Consider a BarLegend showing a smooth gradient, like this one:

SeedRandom[36] data = RandomReal[{-0.5, 1}, 10]  BarLegend[{"SolarColors", MinMax[data]}] 

I would like to have two extra tick marks showing the actual minimal and maximal values.

MinMax[data] (* {-0.289979, 0.789597} *) 

Is there a simple way to do this using BarLegend?

I guess I could just use a DensityPlot instead. Here’s an example, with the CustomTicks package. But this is a bit too complicated to write up when one is in a hurry and doesn’t have personal utility functions handy. Is there an easier way?

DensityPlot[y, {x, 0, 1}, {y, Min[data], Max[data]},  PlotRangePadding -> None, ColorFunction -> "SolarColors",   AspectRatio -> 15,  ImageSize -> {Automatic, 250},  FrameTicks -> {{None,      Sort@Join[       LinTicks[Min[data], Max[data], TickDirection -> Out,         MajorTickLength -> 0.2,         MinorTickLength ->          0.1], ({#, NumberForm[#, 2], {0, 0.2}, {}} &) /@         MinMax[data]]}, {None, None}}  ]