Photos

The Racetrack, in Death Valley, California, is a truly bizarre place. It is named after the scores of rocks scattered about the playa with long trails behind them as if they were on the move over the completely dry, and mudcracked surface!

This particular boulder is about 1 foot across!

A lot of people have attempted to explain the movements of these rocks, and this seems to be the most likely to me:

The climate here is arid and windy, and the soil is really dry but appears to have a lot of clay. So, when it does rain, the surface of the playa probably gets pretty slippery and muddy. The strong winds may then be capable of pushing these boulders (derived from the hills near by) many feet across the playa! The tracks left behind once its dry again, are evidence of the last time these rocks moved.