Death Valley Visitors Guide - 12th Edition

Death Valley Vistiors Guide • 12th Edition 19 s0RIVATE(OT3PRINGSs-OTELs#ABINS s260ARK s#AMPING s""1s#RAFT"EER 4ECOPA(OT3PRINGS2OAD 4ECOPA#! WWWDELIGHTSHOTSPRINGSRESORTCOM then there are days when what seems to be a steady stream of jets come over, through and around. Besides the Crowley Overlook, there are two other nearby viewing points. Plus, Panamint Springs Resort is at the end of the canyon, which makes it another spot for plane-spotting. The Air Force acknowledges the canyon’s link to the iconic Star Wars movie franchise by calling the canyon “Jedi Transition.” But almost everyone else calls it Star Wars Canyon. The canyon is on the other side of Death Valley National Park from where scenes from the first Star Wars movie were shot that portray the Skywalker family’s desert planet, Tatoonie. Instead, there is another, more specific reason pilots and plane spotters link this particular canyon to the first Star Wars movie. The most cited reference to the movie is the final sequence when Luke Skywalker and his fellow X-Wing pilots drop into the trench of the Empire’s Death Star and maneuver through the narrow “canyon.” Regardless of what plane spotters and the military call the canyon, the sight of a war plane twisting and turning through Star Wars canyon is an extraordinary, otherworldly experience. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18 A jet fighter on a training run with the mountains of Death Valley’s Star Wars Canyon in the background. PHOTO BY JON CASSELL/PANAMINT SPRINGS RESORT