Death Valley National Park - Furnace Creek Visitor Center

Other than the quick stop at Father Crowley Vista Point, we reverted to our usual habit of making a stop at a visitor center one of our first priorities on our February 2015 trip to Death Valley National Park. The Furnace Creek Visitor Center is the main visitor center in the park. It features an information desk, museum, three-dimensional model of the park, bookstore, conference room, theater and restrooms. The theater plays the 20-minute film entitled "Seeing Death Valley" every half hour. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, the excellent film explores the geology and natural history of Death Valley and includes comments by elders of the Timbisha Shoshone people who still live in the valley.

The way entrance fees are collected at Death Valley is a bit different from most other parks. Instead of utilizing manned entrance stations, the park accepts fees at ranger stations and visitor centers. Kiosks are available for use when the stations or centers are closed. In addition to the visitor center, one of the nine campgrounds operated by the park service is nearby. The Furnace Creek area also has an inn, a ranch that consists of numerous one- and two-story buildings with motel rooms, an RV park, several restaurants, a camp store and a golf course operated by Xanterra, the park concessionaire.

Front entrance to the visitor center

Foothills and 2859' Nevares Peak in the Funeral Mountains

67 degrees @ 9:30 AM and 190 feet below sea level

Entrance to the museum section of the visitor center

Large scale three-dimensional map of the park

An entrance fee of $20 admits all the passengers of a single vehicle for seven days. Other options include an annual Death Valley National Park Pass for $40, an Interagency Annual Pass providing access to most national park, national forest and BLM fee areas for $80 and a lifetime Interagency Senior Pass for those age 62 and older for $10.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm.