#1 – Death Valley, California, United States
Highest Recorded Temperature: 134° F
Located in the Mojave Desert, Death Valley is the lowest, driest, and hottest place in North America, and the world. The high temperature of 134° F was recorded on July 10, 1913. Although Death Valley seems rather inhospitable, life exists here; bobcats, desert rodents, and foxes scurry about at night, and sheep can be found in the higher elevations. Death Valley is also home to mysterious moving rocks that leave tracks as proof of their movement though no one has ever caught them in the act of moving.