About a year ago, Death Valley National Park instituted a permit system for the two most popular roads for camping in the park – Echo Canyon Road and Hole in the Wall Road.  I gather that the two were simply overrun, so the park was trying to limit the wear and tear on the landscape.  They established several sites on each road, numbered them, and requested (ok, required) that campers sign up for a free permit to camp along the roads.  As someone who has camped multiple times along both roads before the permit system went into place, I can easily admit that having to get a permit is inconvenient.  However, thankfully, the park service has made it pretty painless.

Note: The Greenwater Valley Road now also requires a permit for dispersed camping. The process is pretty much identical to the method presented here.

At this point, there are a total of 6 campsites on Hole in the Wall Road and 9 campsites on Echo Canyon Road.  The early sites on both roads are accessible by most vehicles, while others (specifically once you enter Echo Canyon) require 4×4.  In between these two extremes, several of the sites can be accessed with high clearance, with no 4×4 required. Read more about dispersed and roadside camping in Death Valley National Park.

I wrote this post back when there was a different system in place. I won’t remove the old information, but I will say that the campsites on the three roads are now ONLY available for reservations on Recreation.gov. (Click here for reservations and availability.) No walk-up reservations are accepted. The sites now cost $10/night.

On a quiet Monday in November, I walked into the Furnace Creek Visitor Center at about noon and had a choice of three sites along Hole in the Wall Road (and I wonder if two others weren’t offered because I have high clearance, not because they were already reserved).  I imagine the sites would fill up quickly during busier seasons (say, spring break or Christmas week).

RV’s and trailers cannot reach most of these sites. The NPS recommends that only high clearance vehicles (often only 4×4, high clearance vehicles) attempt to get to the sites. From my somewhat limited experience, I’d say that the first campsite or two on each road can be reached by a rugged car, while the further up the road you go (often into the canyon, itself), the more you’ll need 4×4.

Note: The reservations are NOT available on Recreation.gov and cannot be reserved in advance (I hear from reliable sources that this will be changing; I’ll update this post once I have more information).  The campsites can only be obtained in person at Furnace Creek Visitor Center (8am-5pm daily) or Stovepipe Wells Ranger Station (“intermittent hours,” which in my experience means not very often).  You can reserve up to 7 nights on a single site/permit (so if you, for example, wanted to spend 5 nights at EC2 (Echo Canyon Site 2), you wouldn’t have to go back to the visitor center every day to get a new permit).  The permits are free, but you’ll still need to pay the entrance fee (or present your park pass with a valid ID).

Be sure to follow all of the rules and regulations and to read the fine print carefully – for example, you’ll need to present a printed or digital copy of their permit at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center in order to get their campsite tag.

Here are the steps you’ll need to take to get a permit:

1. Go to Furnace Creek Visitor Center.
2. Enter the visitor center and approach the information/fee desk (straight ahead as you walk in the door).
3. Ask the ranger(s) on duty if there are any sites available along your desired road (or either road if you’re not picky).
4. The ranger will probably ask what type of vehicle you drive before pulling out a big white notebook with the available permits/sites.
5. Fill out a paper form – it asks for typical details like the type of vehicle you’re driving, license plate, group leader, an emergency contact person, how many people/animals are in your party, the dates of your stay, etc.
6. The ranger will review the rules with you (pretty logical if you know Leave No Trace, along with a few specifics like pets in campsites, etc. – see below).  The one important piece of information is that the rangers won’t check up on you – you must have the emergency contact person call the rangers if you don’t show up by the appointed time or get into trouble.  And since cell service is extremely spotty in Death Valley (Verizon and T-Mobile/Sprint), it’s best to let your emergency contact know your plans/schedule before you leave Furnace Creek.
7. The ranger will give you a copy of the rules (which you’ll have to sign) along with a green tag with your site number (for example, I stayed in HW6 – Hole in the Wall Road, Site 6).

The rest of the roads in Death Valley that are open to dispersed camping (see my list of how to camp for free in Death Valley) are still free. Reservations are not required, though they are recommended (get your reservations at a ranger station).

That’s it!  You can then drive up to your designated site when you’re ready to camp.

Here are the rules and regs on the printout I was given. (If you can’t read them, click on them to open Flickr and then click again to make it bigger.)

Remember that these sites are primitive.  You won’t have a picnic table, fire ring (fires are prohibited unless you can turn them off, like a camp stove), water, or other amenities – in fact, you’ll just have a half-circle, pull-in, or pulloff, likely made of gravel – and that’s it.  But the views tend to be amazing, and that’s worth a lot!

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