Death Valley’s camping season starts in about six weeks and the park publishes no opening date for three of the four campgrounds most people want. Its camping page says Sunset, Stovepipe Wells and Texas Springs “typically open late fall and close April 15.” Typically, and late fall, is all you get. We read both park camping pages on September 2, 2026.
Furnace Creek is the exception. It stays open year-round and it is the only one you can book.
The one reservable campground
The developed campgrounds page says Furnace Creek takes reservations for an October 15 to April 15 season through Recreation.gov or 1-877-444-6777, at least two days ahead and up to six months in advance. It also says that in recent years those reservations have booked the campground “to capacity most days.”
Six months out from today lands in early March. So the whole first half of the season is already open for booking, and late March and April 2027 are not bookable yet. If those are your dates, set a reminder rather than checking now and concluding it is full.
Hookups are the tightest thing in the park. Furnace Creek has “only 18 sites” with full hookups, 30/50 amp with water and sewer, and the park says they are often booked six months out. The same page warns against charging an electric vehicle from those pedestals: it could permanently damage your vehicle and the campground’s electrical system, and you could be held liable.
Everything else is first come, first served
Every other Park Service campground in Death Valley is first come, first served, paid at an automated kiosk that needs a credit or debit card. The park’s own read on your odds is worth more than any app: Furnace Creek and Texas Springs are “typically full on weekends and holidays,” while Sunset, the largest campground, “almost always has sites available, even in peak season.”
Rig length narrows the field fast. Sunset and Stovepipe Wells have no length restriction. Texas Springs and Mesquite Springs top out at 35 feet. Wildrose, Thorndike and Mahogany Flat cap at 25, and Emigrant is tents only.
The stay limit is written per calendar year
This is the part that catches long winter stays. Furnace Creek is capped at 14 days per calendar year and the rest of the park at 30 days per calendar year. Per year, not per visit.
Because the count runs on the calendar, a stay that crosses January 1 touches two separate allowances. That is arithmetic off the published rule rather than something the park spells out, so confirm it at 760-786-3200 before you build a three-month winter around it.
Two more numbers from the same page: generator hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. unless posted otherwise, and generators are prohibited at Texas Springs entirely.
What we could not verify
The fee table on the developed campgrounds page loads through a script and returns nothing to a plain fetch, so we did not read current nightly rates and we are not going to guess at them. The camping page is stamped “Last updated: September 18, 2025.” Get prices from the park or from Recreation.gov.
For how the desert season works generally, start with our desert camping guide, and our national park camping rules guide covers how parks set limits differently from each other. And note that Titus Canyon Road closes for a full year on October 1, which takes out a loop a lot of winter itineraries include.
The posted sign and the ranger on duty beat all of this.