Google Street View Can Now Give You a View of Death Valley

Google Maps' Street View can take you to just about every corner of the globe you want to see without having to leave the comfort of your living room or put on pants. Now it can even take you to a place you'd probably rather not go, especially in the middle of the summer.

The Associated Press reported that Google's Street View, the map option that puts roads and highways into a human perspective, now runs through one of the hottest places in North America.

Death Valley National Park in the appropriately named Furnace Creek, California has been recorded for Google's Street View. It not only covers most of the national park's major highways but also some sights from off the beaten path.

The latest update also includes several other national parks on Google Maps' Street View. The maps service added first-person views of Yosemite National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, Redwood National Park and Joshua Tree National Park. These parks weren't originally part of Google Maps' Street View because they required special permission from the Department of the Interior to film them. Google told the AP they wanted to include the parks to inspire the nation to see these national treasures for themselves.

Google recorded the images of the five national parks back in May. That means someone got paid to sit in a hot car and drive the entire length of Death Valley at one of the hottest times of the year. We're sure if they weren't getting paid by one of the world's most profitable Internet companies that such a story would have come out much differently.