Stovepipe Wells Campground

[Internet. There was full 3G signal for Verizon but no service for T-Mobile. Speedtest wouldn’t run. Verizon was usable in that you could download and upload but it took a long time. From my iPhone, I could send photos via iMessage but not SMS.]

[Rig. Mercedes Sprinter. 22 feet]

Dump station? - Yes
Water fill? - Yes
Clean site? - Yes
Clean bathroom? - Yes
Flush toilet? - Yes
Showers? - No
Laundry? - Haha no
Dish washing sink? - Yes

We stayed in the massive parking lot side. There is a few full hookup sites that are reservable. The parking lot is first-come-first-served. It serves its purpose as a place to stay near the dunes. Nothing more. The Stovepipe Village is right next to the campground. There’s a general store, a motel and a saloon. The store has some killer Blue Bunny ice cream sandwiches and some comfy rocking chairs outside for when you eat your ice cream.

It’s basic and served it’s purpose well. No red flags. 4-stars

I've been camping at Stovepipe Wells for about 10 years (not continuously of course) and have never seen it as busy as it was last week (March 21 - 26 2021). Arrived on a Sunday and there were quite a few people camped. Left the following Friday and it looked like it might fill up. The Camp Host came around to talk and told us that the cg had been completely full the previous weekend - mostly with tent campers. I don't know if that was a pandemic phenomenon or a spring break thing but either way it was surprising given that in previous years at about the same time it was never more than about half full. Still a great place to camp and quite a bargain at $7 per night with the geezer pass. Easy access to Salt Creek (we were a little early for the pupfish, didn't see any males) and the Racetrack (by Jeep - guess it's not really "easy" access - 27 miles of washboard road) but worth the trip. Verizon phone showed 5 bars but I could not get any web access - voice and text were fine except one day after a wind/dust storm there was no signal at all - others in my group had AT&T, Sprint, etc. and they also had no signal that day. It came back the next morning - suspect a tower was damaged by the storm. Verizon access was via roaming - my Visible phone didn't work at all (Visible is owned and operated by Verizon and has much lower rates but it does not roam at all - Verizon towers only).

My visit to Death Valley started at Furnace Creek, followed by a night at the Stovepipe Wells Village full hookup campground. I was supposed to return to Furnace Creek but liked the Stovepipe area so much I was able to informally transfer my prepaid camping fee from Furnace Creek to Stovepipe (you didn't hear it from me!). Little has changed from the prior excellent view from several years ago, I can say that this was a very enjoyable place to hang out. Once the winds died down a good number of nice folks showed up. Many of us chose to park on the far west side of the lot (sites in the 170s - 180s) due to the views of the open desert and mountains. Unfortunately, the little-used sites on the north side of the lot are designated for tents only but offer terrific views. A nice volunteer couple served as camp hosts and kept tabs on things. There are restrooms, an outdoor dishwashing sink, water, trash, recycling, and a dump station. The general store had very little in the way of real food and the few items I bought seemed expensive. The general store at The Ranch at Furnace Creek was much better stocked with real food, fresh and frozen.

We stayed at Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley the first 3 days in December. Our friends arrived ahead of us and were told by the camp host that we didn't have to pay since the pay station was broken. The next day we confirmed it with a park ranger, so even though the campground is normally $10/night, our entire stay was free.

Stovepipe Wells Campground is dry camping in a big parking lot. Flush toilets, trash, recycling and easy access dump and potable water filling station. The campground is located adjacent to Stovepipe Wells Village RV Park which has full hookups. The sand dunes are close by and is great spot for a sunrise hike.

The campground had a mix of RVs and tent campers, and wasn't very busy when we were here.

Verizon is fine for voice (though I did have a couple calls drop), but not really usable for data. AT&T was best for data, but I wouldn't want to deal with the low speeds for an entire week.

Overall, we love Death Valley National Park and if you need little cell service, Stovepipe Wells is the place to stay.

Verizon - DOWNLOAD: 0.46 Mbps, UPLOAD: 0.32
AT&T (service displayed as "H") - DOWNLOAD: 2.27 Mbps, UPLOAD: 1.16
T-Mobile (service displayed as "R") - Couldn't speed test due to "Network communication issues."

For those of us who like no reservations and first-come first-served campgrounds, the two best campground options in Death Valley are the Sunset Campground in Furnace Creek, or Stovepipe Wells Campground in Stovepipe Wells.

Stovepipe Wells was a non-starter for us in winter 2016 because there was no cell tower, but as of winter 2017, there is finally cell service here. AT&T is much faster than the trickle of Verizon, but with a booster I was able to get eek out enough service to work on VPN with Verizon - something I've never been able to do at Furnace Creek. On the weekends both towers can be overloaded.

Compared to Furnace Creek Stovepipe Wells is definitely more quiet, especially on weekdays. This is a mixed campground with tent sites in the back and RVs elsewhere, and the generator hours are more strict (7AM-7PM) than the Sunset Campground at Furnace Creek (7AM-9PM). If you get a site on the west side of the campground you will have great views of the Cottonwood Mountains to the west, and most sites of a great view of Tucki Mountain to the south.

The cheapest gas in the park is within walking distance, as is the best food in the park (Furnace Creek is... bad). The gas station has some limited groceries, but like everywhere else in Death Valley, it's best to stock up beforehand (Pahrump, NV being the closest town with a real grocery store). You can pay $5 for a pool card which gives you access to a shower. There is no propane available, for that you have to go to the gas station at Furnace Creek.

As for things to do, Stovepipe Wells is only a few miles from the Mesquite Sand Dunes and Mosaic Canyon, and is closer to Ubehebe Crater, the Racetrack, and Eureka Dunes than Furnace Creek (though all of those require a lot of driving, some 4x4, check with the park for current road conditions).

Overall, we really enjoyed our stay at this campground and are glad we can finally work here during the week.

The pluses - it's convenient to the attractions in the northern part of the park,close to a general store and gas station, has flush toilets and a dump station. The cons - it's just a big flat gravel parking lot and has overly generous generator hours.

We camped here to be closer to some of the things we wanted to see and do in this part of the park, but it's not a campground that we particularly like. The sites are quite close together and there is no privacy at all. Lots of people run their generators a fair amount and since it's close to the highway it has some traffic noise as well. Besides the park operated campground there is also a concessionaire campground with full hook ups if you want to go that route. For tent campers there are some sites along the far edge of the campground which are as far from the road as you can get. For a fee you can use the showers and pool at the resort across the highway. Gas is cheaper here than at Furnace Creek so it's a good place to fill your tank.

Our fee reflect the Senior Access Pass rate. Regular rate is $14/night.

We had 4 bars on our AT&T LTE.

This was a good spot for us to camp to go explore Ubehebe Crater and the Racetrack in Death Valley. Even though these spots where still over an hour drive away. If you want to go to Scottys Castle the road has been washed out and isn't set to reopen to 2019. Nothing to special about this camp ground just a big open lot with at least 100 parking spaces, the location is good to explore the north side of the park, and there is a little town here with fairly cheap gas and food at the gas station. I suggest you fill up with gas and what ever you need at this spot, because Furnace Creek is much more expensive. Pretty noisy and busy spot. Seems to be one of the most popular spots to visit in all of Death Valley. I didn't really find this spot to be that great, just convenient. And there is cell service and wifi available here, one of the few spots in the park that there is. There is also a free dump and fill when you camp, otherwise I think it was 5 or 10 bucks to dump and fill.

Stovepipe Wells campground is directly adjacent to the Stovepipe Wells Village that offers lodging, fuel, a General Store, restaurant, saloon and gift shop. It's definitely one of the bigger outposts with the most accommodations in the valley. There are 14 full hook-up sites that are operated as part of the Village.

The 190 site campground is operated by the National Park Service, sites are first-come, first-served at $12/night. There are no hook-ups but there is a central dump station and both potable and non-potable water. For $4/day, you can get a pass to the pool (definitely DO this...showers and towels included).

I gave the campground four stars because you won't find anything much better than this in the valley. It's centrally located and the staff is incredibly nice. However, you have to remember that this is Death Valley. Dry camping is the norm, there are no trees and no shade. The campground is dirt and it gets extremely dusty and windy at times. Spaces are small, so I suggest taking two or three if you have pop-outs, awnings or just want a buffer zone.

One last note: If you're coming into Death Valley with an RV or trailer, expect to take your time getting over the passes. We pull a 28' Airstream with a Ford F-150 and made it just fine, but had to take it easy to prevent heating up our brakes.