Furnace Creek Resort
There really is a place named Furnace Creek, as well as places like Funeral Mountains, Coffin Peak, Hell's Gate, Starvation Canyon and Dead Man Pass. You can trust that this resort was NOT here when the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) was down here in the 1930's. It was more like what the Shoshone Indians lived in before the white man came, with ancient foot-trails and petroglyphs . That, and the remains of white man's capitalism: borax and metal ore mines, ghost towns, and things like Old Dinah:
This ol' steam tractor and her ore wagons (circa 1894) replaced the 20 mule teams. She was herself replaced by the Borate and Daggett railroad. Because of the climate, things down here don't rust like they do elsewhere in the world, so this is the real deal. She was abandoned on the Beatty-Keane Wonder Mine Road over a hundred years ago!
Below - yes, literally below - Furnace Creek Resort is an oasis where you will find a beautiful place for campers of any kind. This is operated by the National Park Service, and because it is the only one in Death Valley you would be wise to make reservations well in advance.
Beyond the oasis is what you probably have envisioned Death Valley to really look like - so it will live up to at least those expectations, but as you saw in our previous post Death Valley is so much more!
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