SUNSET CG, Death Valley, CA

SUNSET CAMPGROUND, Furnace Creek, Death Valley, CA

RUN BY:  Nat’l Park Service 

LOCATION:  36.458157  -116.862595

Last Visit:  4/4/2018

UTILITIES:  None

COST: $14

DISCOUNTS:  50% with Senior Pass

OUR RATING (1-5): Category I. Score 2

NOTES:  A lot of people love Death Valley. We are not among them, so remember that as you read. We found that it is a geological wonder with some really beautiful places. We arrived on April 4^th and the temperature was still 100 degrees at sunset. The drive in and out of the valley is interesting and picturesque but we felt that it was an undue strain on our truck and trailer.  The only campground open when we were there was literally a parking lot. We have a senior pass, but we felt that even $7 was too much. We explored the area after sunset and left the next morning before it got too hot.

Environment:  desert

Amenities:  None. 

Dump:  Yes

Public Water: Yes

Toilets: Yes

Showers:  No

Laundry: No

Phone Service: none 

Nearest Propane: (sorry. No idea)

Location: US-95 north out of LasVegas and follow the signs. 

Proximity to shopping: (sorry. No idea)

Camping Population:   National Park mix.

Sites:  a parking space.

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RATING KEY:    category - score 

Categories:  I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

                    II -  boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

                               one might choose to stay for more than a night.

                    III - over-night areas 

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service 

* There are people who are not full-timers and van-dwellers by choice. We try hard not to be demeaning or assume that they are bad people but sadly, as you find in the poorer parts of a city, there seems to be more crime. Many call these people van-dwellers. That isn’t really accurate even though they do often live in vans. We know quite a few van-dwellers who have good incomes, are full-timers by choice and prefer a van to other types of vehicles. To try to show some respect for people who have a difficult lot in life, I’m calling them ‘residential campers’.  It is only when you get a high proportion of residential campers in an area that you find an increase in petty theft, etc.