Death Valley's Racing Rocks

California's Death Valley is famous for its enduring legends and stories of mysterious events. One of the most remarkable of those events takes place at Racetrack Playa.

Racetrack Playa is a very flat area with no vegetation or water and very few stones. But since 1948 there have been occasional reports of rocks that have moved, seemingly all by themselves, across the sun-baked surface of the playa. Stones weighing as much as 80 pounds have been found at the ends of clearly defined tracks which can range in length up to 200 feet.

Although the stones and their trails have been photographed after the fact, no one has reported seeing them actually move. Some of the theories that have been put forth to account for these restless rocks include ghostly activities, earthquakes, and even strong winds pushing the stones across the level ground. But in the end, no one knows for sure what is actually happening in this intriguing corner of Death Valley.