Well, if by the "full Death Valley Experience," you mean experiencing record-breaking high temperatures, then yes, wait till next July or August, when you might fully experience 134 degrees.
Death Valley, a three-hour or so drive from Las Vegas northwest into southeastern California, is the hottest and driest spot in North America and one of the hottest places on the planet. It receives an annual average of two inches of rain and holds the world's number-two record-high temperature of 134 degrees, set on July 10, 1913. (That record was broken nine years later when a sizzling 136 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded at the Al Aziziyah weather station in the Sahara Desert, in Libya. It still stands as the highest recorded temperature on Earth.) The summer of 1913 in Death Valley saw five consecutive days reach 129 degrees or higher; record-setting July 10 was one of them.
The hottest stretch of heat ever recorded in history occurred in Death Valley from July 6 through Aug. 17, 1917, when the thermometer went above 120 degrees on all 43 consecutive days. The summer of 1996 had 40 days over 120 and 103 days over 110.
More recently, on July 17, 1998, and July 19, 2005, the thermometer reached 129. In 2001, Death Valley experienced 154 days -- more than five months -- in a row of 100-degree temperatures and above.
And if you really want the extreme experience, the highest ground temperature ever recorded was 201 at Furnace Creek on July 15, 1972. (Ground temperature, on the Death Valley floor, is about 40% higher than the surrounding air temperature.) The high air temperature for that day was 128.
The average high in Death Valley in June is 109; the average low is 80. In July, it's 115 and 88. In August, it's 113 and 85. And in September, it cools off to 106 and 75.
In short, don't carry any candles with you; they'll melt in your car, in your pocket, in a cooler.
So, if those numbers don't make you break out in an immediate sweat or if you're part camel, by all means visit Death Valley in mid-July. However, if you're like most of us and find temperatures above about 120 basically unbearable, you should consider a different time of year.
By most accounts, the best time to visit Death Valley is late fall and winter. November is busy, but beautiful climate-wise: The high temperatures are in the mid-70s, the lows in the upper 40s -- Thanksgiving at a picnic table in short sleeves. The highest temperature ever recorded in November was 97 degrees (though the lowest was 24, so be sure to bring warm clothes, too, if you go). Visitation is highest from February to mid-April, especially in wet years, when the wildflowers can be spectacular, as was true earlier this year.
