Our campground in Death Valley National Park was right next to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center:
Near the Visitor Center is The Ranch, an oasis with a hotel, shopping center, and restaurants:
Buffet at the 1849 Restaurant:
Nice gardens:
national park
National parks that we have visited.
Death Valley Furnace Creek Campground
We stayed at Furnace Creek Campground within Death Valley National Park, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)
The first time we’ve ever stayed inside a national park in our coach.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-03-20
- Check out: 2023-03-23
- 3 nights
Weather:
- Partly sunny, a couple days of drizzle
- High temps ranging between 61-73°F, lows around 43-50°F
- Wind gusts to 37 MPH
Noise:
- No road or train noise
- Some neighbor kid noise, not too bad
Site:
- #69, pull-through, asphalt
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind and in front of coach
- Level
- Large site: about 95 feet long by about 50 feet wide
- Picnic table, fire pit, gravel
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 55 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Starlink: 43-148 Mbps down, 11-23 Mbps up, 29-40 ms ping
- T-Mobile: no service
- AT&T: no service
- Verizon: no service
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- National Park!
- Visitor center
- General store
- Restaurant
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Great campground in the heart of Death Valley NP
There are two things I wish about this place: 1) That they had more full hookup sites, and 2) that we’d gotten to stay longer. We originally booked a dry camping spot but were lucky enough to snag a cancellation for a full hookup and I’m so glad we did. I would have stayed here either way, as it’s truly the best place to stay in or near the park. The pull-through sites are incredibly long and every site is large so you’re not cramped against your neighbor, which is appropriate when staying in the largest National Park in the contiguous 48 states. It’s also very convenient to all the “must-see” places in the park. If you need internet while staying here, you must have Starlink. Cellular data was non-existent for any carrier. There is WiFi at the Furnace Creek Ranch. We camped at Furnace Creek in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Gas in Stovepipe Wells was quite a bit cheaper than at Furnace Creek and the food was better at the restaurant there, too.
Interactive map:
The campground map:
Death Valley National Park is interesting in that it is mostly below sea level. The campground has an elevation of -190 feet:
Our site:
Death Valley is the hottest and driest national park… so of course it was cool and rainy:
Entrance:
Dishwashing station:
Other sites:
Video: Las Vegas, Nevada to Death Valley, California motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 121 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada to Death Valley, California.
Travel from Las Vegas, Nevada to Death Valley, California
We drove our coach 121 miles, about three hours of driving, from Las Vegas, Nevada to Death Valley, California.
Here’s the map route, heading west:
An interactive map, with our stops marked:
Horses artwork:
Driving past the buildings of the Vegas strip:
Overpass artwork:
Snowy mountains:
A snack while driving:
Paladin in his safe space:
Mountain:
We stopped for lunch at the Area 51 Alien Center:
It’s Nevada, so there’s also the Alien Cathouse Brothel:
The Area 51 Alien Center:
They have a cafe, but it was closed, so we grabbed packaged sandwiches for lunch:
Cow artwork:
Leaving Nevada, entering California (no welcome sign, just “click it or ticket”; real friendly there, California):
Bumpy road:
Enering Death Valley National Park:
Most of the park is below sea level; passing sea level elevation, heading down:
-5 elevation:
The Ranch at Death Valley, at -190 feet elevation:
US Virgin Islands power boat circle of St. John
Our second boating excursion in the USVI was on a power boat, circumnavigating the island of Saint John, including a couple of snorkeling stops, and lunch at Lime Out, a floating taco bar.
Fantastic day in the USVI
This was a fantastic way to see St John, including snorkeling in the national park (sea turtles & stingrays!) and a unique lunch experience at Lime Out (shrimp tacos!). Our crew of Captain Brandon & Mate Lacey took great care of us and made it a highlight of our trip to the USVI. They were so accommodating and even had ways for non-snorkelers to enjoy the warm water, such as a floating mat attached to the boat, allowing everyone to get in on the fun.
The boat (first on the right) in the marina:
Lacey made sure our beverages remained full:
Captain Brandon:
The first snorkeling stop:
An interesting rock:
Spray:
We stopped for lunch at Lime Out. a floating taco bar. Jenn’s Tripadvisor review:
It’s the experience
This was one of the most unique and memorable dining experiences I’ve ever had. We took a day cruise around St. John specifically because it had a stop here for lunch. It’s expensive, but how many times are you going to be able to eat a taco on a floating pad while fish swim around your feet, eating any scraps you might drop? The drinks are strong and the tacos are pretty good, but it’s all about the experience.
Our boat:
Swag for purchase:
We sat on a floating circular seating, with a floating table ferried between the restaurant and seating to deliver the menus, drinks, food, and swag:
The menu:
Nobody was allowed on board; our server called out across the water:
Selfie:
Tacos:
There were lots of fish swimming below us, waiting for dropped crumbs:
A glimpse of the bar along the edge of the floating restaurant, and more floating seating:
Lacey in a fish taco costume:
On the way to the next spot:
An interesting house; something simple and isolated like that would suit us nicely:
The second snorkeling spot:
I wasn’t into snorkeling, so Lacey kindly put out a tethered float for me:
An underwater video I recorded of the fish under me:
Jenn:
She took my phone and captured some great shots, including this stingray:
Fish:
A turtle:
Continuing on, past the Annaberg sugar plantation (where we visited the previous day):
A nice catamaran:
Customs office ruins:
Yacht:
Nice houses:
National park mooring pay station:
A very enjoyable excursion.
US Virgin Islands National Park
As previously mentioned, the US Virgin Islands consists of three main islands, and a bunch of minor ones. We were staying on Saint Thomas, but another highlight of this trip was to cross off another national park, in our goal to visit all of them. The nearby island of Saint John mostly consists of the Virgin Islands National Park.
It is possible to take a passenger ferry over to the island, and walk to the park visitor center, and explore the town of Cruz Bay (where the ferry docks), but we wanted to explore more of the park, which is best done by car. So we headed to the car ferry dock.
Here’s a car ferry loading; the cars all back on, to make it easier to drive off at the other side:
The departing ferry, and another arriving:
We made it onto this ferry, the Big Red Barge:
The cars are packed rather tightly:
Arriving at Saint John:
Driving off:
Why did the chicken cross the road? They’re all over the place:
Jenn got her National Park passport stamps:
Info in the visitor center:
Visitor center gift store:
Selfie:
The visitor center was undergoing some renovations:
Virgin Islands National Park sign:
Trunk Bay is one of the most popular parts of the park; we hoped to be able to stop here, but they have very limited parking, so we skipped it:
Maho Bay is another (too) popular beach:
But we were able to find parking at Francis Bay, a less popular but still very nice beach:
We had a picnic lunch on the beach:
Parts of the beach were a little rocky, but the sand was very soft:
Underwater photos:
Jenn swimming:
Video of fish:
Looking like a merman:
Continuing on, we visited the historic windmill of the Annaberg sugar plantation:
A turtle:
Goat:
Donkeys:
Lots of steep roads:
Back to the car ferry:
A nice swim, fascinating history, and great to visit one of the more difficult to reach national parks.
Big Bend National Park
We spent a day visiting Big Bend National Park in Texas, our last national park for the year, and our last new one until we visit Death Valley in March.
An interactive map of our route:
Entrance sign:
Persimmon Gap Visitor Center near the northern entrance:
We asked the ranger about picnic spots; he told us about a secret picnic spot that isn’t normally mentioned, since they don’t maintain it; a couple of shelters, but just one table. So we had a picnic lunch there:
Hazy mountains and views:
Panther Junction Visitor Center, which includes a post office:
You know I enjoy relief maps:
Gift store:
There’s even a gas station, very unusual for a national park:
Chisos Basin Visitor Center:
Window View Trail:
The Window:
Hole in a rock:
Castolon Visitor Center area:
Old barracks from 1919, that burned in 2019:
Moon over mountains:
A scenic drive.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park again
We visited Carlsbad Caverns a second time, this time to do the Natural Entrance and Big Room trails.
On the way, passing the Apache Canyon Trading Post:
And White’s City:
The Carlsbad Caverns sign:
Entrance road:
Again we had a picnic lunch by the visitor center:
The visitor center sign:
The path to the natural entrance:
We were stopped for the pre-entrance instructions from the ranger:
The bat amphitheater, where people can watch the bats leaving the cave in the evenings:
Heading down into the natural entrance:
An info sign; 1.25 miles, 750 feet of elevation change:
The natural entrance:
Reaching the junction with the Rest Stop and Big Room:
The Big Room trail:
Back to the Underground Rest Stop:
We bought a snack at the shop; the attendant was very chatty with info about the cave, visitors, bats, etc:
Back up the elevator:
The gift shop:
Jenn bought a bunch of postcards; she collects the WPA-style postcards, and this gift shop had an excellent collection, so she was able to get some missing and future ones:
A selfie by the sign, with a stuffed toy bat from the gift shop:
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Just south of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, across the border in Texas, is Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
Passing through the town of Carlsbad again on the way there:
Cave people art:
We stopped for lunch at a tiny separate section of Carlsbad Caverns NP, Rattlesnake Springs Picnic Area:
They have a very nice picnic area in an oasis of trees, which we had pretty much to ourselves (only one other group in the distance):
Rattlesnake Springs sign:
This area has a spring that is the source of the water for the caverns:
Spring pool:
With fish:
Continuing on, we entered Texas:
Mountains:
A brief stop at the small McKittrick Canyon Visitor Center of Guadalupe Mountains National Park:
Then on to the main part of the park:
Pine Springs Visitor Center:
You know I enjoy 3D relief maps:
Inside the visitor center:
We walked along the Pinery Trail, about a mile of nature trail:
We took a look at the “campground”, little more than a parking lot (and too small for our coach):
We were impressed by El Capitan mountain:
A rest area and view:
El Capitan mountain again:
A quick spin along Frijole Ranch road:
Then back north into New Mexico, a much-needed carwash, and back home to our coach.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
We visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southern New Mexico:
The road to the visitor center:
We had a reservation for a ranger-led tour, so after checking in, we had a picnic lunch:
Back to the visitor center:
Bat artwork in the foyer:
The ticketing area:
There are two ways down to the caverns: elevators, or the natural entrance. This time, we took the elevators. They lead to the underground rest stop, with food, swag, and bathrooms:
We joined the ranger for our guided tour:
He was a bit of a character, with multiple philosophy degrees. That definitely showed in his talks, with discussions of paradoxes and raising questions about the caverns.
The tour we went on was the King’s Palace tour (the only one offered currently). It gives access to caverns not open to the general public, via this gate:
Heading down:
Stalactites:
The King’s Palace room:
The ranger passed around an old photo showing the room (sorry, not a great shot of it):
Through a tunnel to the next room:
The Papoose Room:
The Queen’s Chamber:
An actively dripping column; the ranger turned out the lights and we sat by this in total darkness for a few minutes, just listening to the dripping of the water:
A fossilized bat:
Telephone:
Back to King’s Palace, on the other side:
Green Lake (a small pool):
Heading up some stairs:
The end of the tour at the exit gate:
Looking down:
Old stairs:
Swiss cheese:
New York Skyline:
Info sign:
Back at the underground rest stop:
Rest stop shop:
Restrooms:
Another map:
Exit to elevators:
Elevators:
Heading up from 750 feet underground:
The elevators debouch into the gift store, of course:
An impressive 3D map of the caverns:
Jenn just hanging around:
Another gift shop and restaurant:
Gotta have her pressed penny:
Back outside the visitor center:
