Death Valley

From what Ive read most of the park is closed, so good luck finding a spot.

https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

Repairs at Scotty's Castle are just unbelievable. Damage occurred in 2015 and they are now not expecting to re-open until 2020. Five years??? My God, are they using a child's beach shovel and a toothbrush? We were in the valley last year and never saw any evidence of anyone lifting a finger. Then again, it's the Federal Government. Why am I not surprised?

You should call first, of course, but I'm pretty sure the Furnace Creek campgrounds...there are three big ones...one with hookups and two without.....
are open. And I haven't heard anything about Stovepipe Wells campground being closed.

...Don’t forget about Panamint Springs Resort www.panamintsprings.com Been a great place for me on a couple of occasions, but, don’t let anyone else know about it, please.... Nice hike to Darwin Falls from there ( yes, waterfall in the desert )...

pigman1 wrote:
Repairs at Scotty's Castle are just unbelievable. Damage occurred in 2015 and they are now not expecting to re-open until 2020. Five years??? My God, are they using a child's beach shovel and a toothbrush? We were in the valley last year and never saw any evidence of anyone lifting a finger. Then again, it's the Federal Government. Why am I not surprised?

It is a historic building. The method of repair needs to be authentic. Sure it could be repaired in 30 days just slapping on some white stucco and tile. Then the future tours would just cover the lame repairs.

I've never seen Sunset campground at Furnace Creek fill up the overflow area. There has always been space there.

donn0128 wrote:
From what Ive read most of the park is closed, so good luck finding a spot.

Just returned from DV. Campgrounds at Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells are all open. Some of the "resort" areas are closed for remodeling, but the only part of the park that was closed is Scotty's Castle.

You don't have to camp in a campground in DV.

It's a vast place and there are plenty of places where drycamping is allowed. There are some rules for drycamping in the boondocks .... just ask a ranger what the rules are or search for them on the WEB.

We camped in our Class C motorhome in a flat area just off a 4X4 road out in the middle of nowhere in DV. What a great experence sitting out in that beauty eating hot buttered popcorn away from the crowds!

Here's a .pdf link to the backcountry camping rules for Death Valley: https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/upload/Backcountry-Camping-2017.pdf

I'm with the off road bunch..great camping in DV. And then we have the 'however'...there is another area which has a few more things to do...

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Tecopa+Hot+Springs,+Tecopa,+CA+92389,+USA/@35.8476665,-116.9407752,10z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c665882b43a819:0x1528706706fafa37!8m2!3d35.8739184!4d-116.2314259

I've been twice...with the hot springs right at hand and DV just up the road, it is a pretty neat spot to park. You can roll over to the Amargosa Opera House...worth seeing...and Shoshine has a good eatin n drinkin joint...go drive around DV as much as you like, then back to the hot springs to rEEElax.

On the down side, you didn't have all the rigs parked side by side and the off road atv/mc kids tearing it up. You might miss that.


Gary Haupt