8 of the Best Places to Stay in Death Valley National Park

The best places to stay in Death Valley National Park includes small villages with mining history and desert campgrounds under the stars.

Wondering where to stay at Death Valley National Park on your next trip? The remote desert park is on the border of California and Nevada, about two hours from the closest major city of Las Vegas. At 3.4 million acres, Death Valley is the largest national park in the Lower 48, so it can be hard to figure out exactly which small towns near Death Valley National Park are the closest. 

While there is some lodging in Death Valley National Park, there are pros and cons to staying inside the park versus on the outskirts. With just a handful of places to stay in Death Valley in the communities of Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells, reservations can be pricey and book out quickly. Plus, amenities like restaurants and markets are limited and gas stations in the park can cost twice as much as those outside. But, you will have a shorter drive to some of the more popular destinations on a Death Valley itinerary, so this can work out best for a quick trip.

Since Death Valley is so big, even if you stay in the park, you may drive an hour or more to reach certain destinations. For this reason, it’s worth looking into small towns on the outskirts, where there are more hotels and restaurants and lower gas prices. 

Below I’ll cover your options and go into more detail about the best places to stay near Death Valley National Park and which cities near Death Valley should be on your radar.

Here's where I stayed on my last trip!

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Best Death Valley Camping

Looking for the best camping in Death Valley? The national park maintains nine Death Valley campgrounds, and some of the more remote ones are even free. The campgrounds are some of the best places to stay in Death Valley if you want to spend a lot of time outdoors and enjoy the night skies.

The best campground in Death Valley to reserve ahead of time is Furnace Creek, which is open year-round for tent and RV camping and has hookups, water, flush toilets, and a dump station. Close by, the seasonal Sunset and Texas Springs campgrounds are first come, first served with similar amenities but no RV hookups.

Stovepipe Wells is one of the best places to camp in Death Valley near the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. It’s open late fall through spring but can’t be reserved and has no RV hookups. Water and flush toilets are available and there is a general store and restaurant nearby. There is another Stovepipe Wells campground and RV park in this area run by a vendor.

The rest of the Death Valley campgrounds are a bit more remote, don’t take reservations, and have fewer sites and amenities. A couple are down gravel roads that are only accessible in a high-clearance vehicle and don’t have water or flush toilets.

Furnace Creek 

Sitting some 190 feet below sea level, Furnace Creek, California, is a small town in Death Valley National Park that’s home to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, a gas station, a few campgrounds and a pair of hotels. This is the best place to stay in Death Valley for quick access to Zabriskie Point and the top park highlights along Badwater Road.

While there isn’t much in the way of amenities in town, between the two hotels there are a few restaurants, cafes and bars, as well as the lowest elevation golf course in the world. The 1927 Inn at Death Valley is a lux property with a pool, sauna, tennis courts and spa services. You can stay in rooms and suites with mountain and desert views or in private casitas that come with a golf cart.

The family-friendly Ranch at Death Valley neighbors the golf course and offers a pool, sports courts, a playground, an ice cream parlor and an old-timey saloon. In addition to patio rooms, the historic property has brand new private cottages.

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Stovepipe Wells 

Also located within park boundaries, Stovepipe Wells, California, is one of the best places to stay in Death Valley in a central location. The small community located along Route 190 neighbors the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and Mosaic Canyon and is about 30 minutes from Furnace Creek. 

In addition to some of the best camping in Death Valley, there is a market, gas station, restaurant, saloon, RV park and hotel with a pool. This area is usually a little cheaper than the Furnace Creek options while still keeping you within the park.

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Beatty

Just 10 miles from the park entrance and 40 miles from Furnace Creek, Beatty, Nevada, is one of the closest towns near Death Valley National Park. It’s the best place to stay in Death Valley for easy access to the park but with more amenities and lower prices. And, you may even spot a wild donkey wandering around town.

Beatty has a few restaurants and hotels, a market, a local history museum, and gas stations that are much cheaper than the ones in the national park. Just outside of Beatty, you can also visit the Rhyolite ghost town, Goldwell Open Air Museum, and Tom Kelly’s Bottle House, a well-preserved structure built with glass bottles in 1906.

On my last visit, I stayed at the El Portal Motel, a no-frills property in Beatty with a seasonal pool and an in-room fridge and microwave.

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Amargosa Valley 

South of Beatty, Amargosa Valley, Nevada, is an unincorporated community off of U.S. Route 95 with not much more than a gas station, market, and hotel. The town near Death Valley is also between two other nature reserves — the Big Dune Recreation Area, a sand dune playground with peaks up to 500 feet high, and Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, which has a boardwalk, a bright blue spring, and a water cavern of unknown depth that’s home to rare pupfish. 

There’s just one place to stay near Death Valley in Amargosa Valley, the Longstreet Inn and Casino, a hotel and RV resort with a restaurant, bar, wedding chapel and swimming pool. The property is about 40 miles from Furnace Creek and 60 miles from Stovepipe Wells.

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Death Valley Junction 

Just across the state line in California, Death Valley Junction is about 25 miles southeast of Zabriskie Point. While there aren’t many amenities here, it’s one of the best places to stay in Death Valley for access to attractions along Route 190 and Badwater Road.

The tiny town consists mostly of the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel, built in the 1920s to house employees and visitors of the Pacific Coast Borax Company. In the 1960s, the theater was leased by performer Marta Becket, who became a legacy over the following decades for her shows and the murals she painted in the auditorium. It’s now on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to hotel rooms, the community has a campground and cafe, and you can tour the opera house.

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Shoshone

A family-operated community since 1910, Shoshone Village, California, is home to the Shoshone Inn and Shoshone RV Park, with a cafe and saloon and a pool. Located on the south end of the park, about an hour from Furnace Creek, the whole town near Death Valley consists of not much more than a restaurant, gas station, post office and a couple of places to stay.

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Pahrump

If you’re looking for places to stay in Death Valley for more amenities, Pahrump, Nevada, is your best bet. The small town is about midway between Las Vegas and Death Valley, right on the California border.

In addition to several hotels and RV parks, Pahrump has casinos, restaurants, fast food, big grocery stores, festivals, wineries and a museum for local history. It’s one of the best places to stay near Death Valley for bigger-city benefits.

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Las Vegas

For big cities near Death Valley, Las Vegas is your best option. About 120 miles from the park, Sin City can work as a place to stay near Death Valley if you just visit on a day trip. It takes between two to three hours to reach the park.

If you want to take a day trip from Vegas to Death Valley, there are lots of tour providers that pick you up in the city and guide you to the best sites in the park, like Zabriskie Point, Badwater Basin and Artists Palette. This can be a great way to get a quick overview of Death Valley while you’re visiting Las Vegas.

In addition to the casinos and nightlife on the famous Las Vegas Strip, there are other gorgeous parks right outside the city, like Valley of Fire State Park, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, and Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

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