Feasting On Tasty Star Wars Trivia In Death Valley National Park

A recent trip to the hottest place on earth included a surprising discovery from a galaxy far, far away.

Death Valley is full of life

People visit this remote national park for many reasons. There’s the stark Badwater Basin, 282 feet below sea level. Those vast saltwater flats stretch more than 200 square miles and look positively gorgeous against the cliffs of the Black Mountains, Telescope Peak often covered in snow this time of year. 

After spending a couple months exploring the beach campgrounds of SoCal, the Our Grand Tour team was ready for something completely different and, wow, did we hit the jackpot. Vegas, by the way, is the closest urban area, roughly 150 miles from the Furnace Creek Visitors Center. We camped at Furnace Creek for a couple of starry, starry nights – the park is an international dark sky spot – while spending days hiking the scenic canyon trails. Truly spectacular scenery, especially if you’re a rock hound. 

We later checked into the Stovepipe Wells Village Hotel for a little break from the motorhome and while the historic accommodations were comfortable, the motel-like rooms are a world away from the over-the-top hostelries found at the Grand Canyon or Yosemite. 

Still, I’d heard good things about the Toll Road Restaurant, so hit that welcoming spot early one morning. That’s where I got a healthy Hollywood flashback with my breakfast. 

The perfect location

Hollywood loves Death Valley. Dozens of movies have used the distinctive landscape as a backdrop to everything from Old School westerns to the most classic sci-fi film series of all time. Yes, there’s even a Star Wars tour mapped out of the official national park website.

The casual dining room at the Toll Road Restaurant is lined with classic movie posters, each accompanied by some background on the shooting. It was thanks to one of these tiny cheat sheets that I learned Return of the Jedi was originally called Revenge of the Jedi. 

“This movie poster was seen in theaters promoting the 1983 release of the third film of the Star Wars trilogy. Just a few weeks before the movie opened, George Lucas insisted the title be changed to Return of the Jedi since revenge is not a Jedi concept,” according to the tag posted next to the original poster. Hmmm, really?

OK, not exactly earth-shaking news, but it was thought-provoking enough that in between bites, I texted my nephew, who’s one of the world’s biggest Star Wars geeks. He’d never heard that before. 

It reaffirmed my belief that you’re always going to learn something when you visit a national park. Oh, and the breakfast potatoes were excellent, so crispy I’m guessing they were deep-fried. Also makes me hungry to rewatch the entire Star Wars series.

Here’s the original Revenge of the Jedi trailer:

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