Furnace Creek Campground
The Quick Take
Furnace Creek is Death Valley's base camp -- the most accessible, most popular, and most fought-over campground in the park. Sitting nearly 200 feet below sea level near the main visitor center, it trades wilderness solitude for unmatched convenience: a camp store, dump station, and potable water are all within easy reach. This is the only NPS campground in the park that takes reservations, which tells you everything about demand. The trade-off is real -- you will have neighbors, you will hear generators during the day, and the landscape is stark desert flats rather than hidden canyon beauty. But for first-time visitors who want a home base for exploring Badwater Basin, Zabriskie Point, and Golden Canyon without gambling on first-come-first-served availability, Furnace Creek is the smart play. Choose this campground if logistics matter more to you than isolation.
Booking
Reserve Your Campsite
All 136 sites are reservable.
Book at Death Valley LodgesWhat You Get
Sites & Setup
RV Information
RVs allowed. No electrical hookups. Generators permitted during designated hours.
Accessibility
22 ADA-accessible campsites. Accessible restrooms available. All ADA and ADA accessible sites are level with plenty of room to move about the sites. Additionally, most other non ADA sites in the campground are very ADA friendly minus the tent walk-in loop #'s 116-146. Paved Roads - All vehicles OK
Rules to Know
- Fires:Check-out Time:12 PM Noon Campfires: No wood gathering.
- Generators:Generator Hours: 7 AM to 7 PM.
- Bear Safety:Do not feed wildlife.
- Checkout:Check-out Time:12 PM Noon Campfires: No wood gathering.
- Occupancy:8 people per site.
- Stay Limit:Stay limited to 14 days.
Pro Tips
Reservations open six months out and the best dates in November through March sell fast -- set a calendar reminder and book the day your window opens. Weekday stays are significantly easier to snag than weekends, and you will enjoy the park more with thinner crowds anyway.
Skip the campground for stargazing and instead drive 20 minutes to Harmony Borax Works or Badwater Road after dark. Furnace Creek's proximity to the Ranch at Death Valley means enough ambient light to dull the sky, but those nearby pullouts deliver some of the darkest skies in the lower 48.
Summer camping here is technically possible but genuinely dangerous -- temperatures regularly exceed 120 degrees and most loops close down. If you are visiting between April and October, bring more water than you think reasonable, camp only in the remaining first-come-first-served sites, and plan all activity for before 9 AM or after 6 PM.
Photos
NPS
NPS
NPSGetting There
Directions
From Las Vegas area, head east on Blue Diamond/Hwy 160 to Pahrump, NV. Continue through Pahrump and then turn left on Bell Vista Road. Take Bell Vista Road as it turns into State Line Road and dead ends at Death Valley Junction. From Death Valley Junction turn right and then a quick left on CA190. Follow CA190 into the park and Furnace Creek. The Furnace Creek Campground is on the left directly past the visitor center.
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