I agree, it's very easy to underestimate a place like Death Valley. I was there this winter, so while I did not experience the blistering heat, I was absolutely taken in by the sheer scale and hostility of the place (I'm from the Netherlands and we simply have nothing to compare it to).

Driving around on main roads during the day, you can drive for hours and only occasionally run into other people. Leave the main roads unprepared and you may end up on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_by_GPS

Even main roads are not a guarantee for a good experience. We stayed in the park a bit too long and wanted to avoid driving out in the dark via the steep winding roads near Panamint Springs on the way out by taking the 178 to Ridgecrest. Driving 70 miles of pothole-riddled desert road in pitch black with not a soul nearby was not fun. And this is a California state route that we researched in advance.