Location of the milky way in August in Death Valley
The Milky Way will be in a straight line that goes from SSW, (a bearing of about 200 degrees) almost directly overhead and to the NE. The brightest part of the Milky way will be low in the sky in the SSW.

In future, you can check the visibility and direction of any astronomical object with planetarium software, such as the (free) Stellarium.