Fourteen historic motel rooms, nine new cabin-style units, and a single stand-alone cottage on Highway 190 above the salt pan, with the best generator-free night sky in the western continental United States.
"Twenty-four rooms on the far western edge of the Park, the only independent lodge inside the boundary and the right base for Father Crowley, the Saline Valley, and a properly slow desert traverse."
Panamint Springs Resort is the only privately operated lodge inside Death Valley National Park, set on a flat above Panamint Valley at the far western edge of the Park, 55 miles west of Furnace Creek and 30 miles east of Lone Pine on Highway 190. The property has been family operated for most of its history and reads accordingly: the office sits inside the restaurant building, a single staff handle check-in, the gas pumps, and the dinner service in rotation, and the operating cadence is set by the generator that runs 18 hours a day and quiets between midnight and 6 AM.
The room product is small and split into three categories. The 14 historic motel rooms are the original 1937 single-story block with queen and double beds, ceiling fans, and only one room with an air conditioner (the property runs at meaningfully cooler temperatures than the valley floor, so this is workable September through May and a real consideration in summer). The 9 newer cabin-style rooms, added in 2017, are the better booking: each holds proper air conditioning, a bathroom with a shower, a covered outdoor sitting area, and a mini-fridge, with a choice of queen, king, or bunk-bed configurations. The single stand-alone cottage is the largest unit on the property and sleeps four.
Food and bar are handled by the Panamint Springs Restaurant, a single room with a long counter and a covered patio that looks west across Panamint Valley toward the Inyo Mountains. The kitchen runs an unusually broad beer list (over 150 bottles and cans, an oddity for a 24-room desert lodge) and a short, well-handled menu of grilled steaks, burgers, and a single fish dish; breakfast is plated and generous. The general store and gas station on the same building handle the only commercial services for 30 miles in either direction. The property runs adjacent tent and RV sites and the night sky here is the darkest accessible darkness in the western United States.
The case for Panamint Springs is geographic. The property is the only viable base for Father Crowley Overlook at dusk, for the long 4WD descent into the Saline Valley, for the Eureka Dunes (a hard day out, a 200 mile round trip on dirt), and for the western flank of the National Park that the Furnace Creek crowd rarely sees. It is also the only Death Valley lodge under USD 100 per night in the off season and the cleanest answer for a solo desert weekend that wants no resort programming at all. The trade is a generator-driven property with no cell coverage, WiFi confined to the restaurant, and a single-staff cadence that benefits from a longer stay.
Panamint Springs is the single best solo address inside the Park for a traveler who wants the desert without a resort. The 24-room scale means dinner at the restaurant runs the same six or seven faces for three nights running and the staff will leave a thermos of coffee on the porch for a 5 AM start. Book a Cabin (the new units are quieter than the historic motel block, with proper air conditioning) and use the property as a base for Father Crowley at dusk, the Saline Valley Road by 4WD, and the Eureka Dunes a hard day out.
For families with older kids the property is the cleanest answer to a question the National Park makes hard: where do you stay if the Inn is full and you want a real desert experience rather than a National Park lodge feel. The tents and RV sites adjacent to the rooms mean a family can split (parents in a cabin, teens in a tent) and reconvene at the restaurant for breakfast. The night sky here is the darkest accessible darkness in the western United States; bring a telescope.
Highway 190
Panamint Springs, CA 93545
United States
Inside Death Valley National Park, western boundary; 55 miles west of Furnace Creek, 30 miles east of Lone Pine
14 historic motel rooms
9 new cabin-style rooms
1 stand-alone cottage
Queen Cabin from USD 94/night
Motel rooms from USD 160/night
Cabin rooms to USD 326/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Independent, family operated
Property runs on generator power 18 hours per day; quiet hours after midnight
Panamint Springs Restaurant (open seven days, full bar)
General store and gas station
Tent and RV sites on the same property
Closest base to Father Crowley Overlook and the Saline Valley Road
WiFi in restaurant only; no cell coverage on property
Pet friendly (USD 5 per pet per night)
From USD 94 / night. Death Valley peak runs late February through mid-April and again in October and November; book three to four months ahead for those weeks and one to two months ahead for the summer shoulder.
Check Rates →The 1927 mission-style luxury inn at Furnace Creek, an hour and a half east on Highway 190.
The 84-room outpost 35 miles east, the next nearest lodging inside the Park.
The 224-room resort at Furnace Creek, the family option for a Death Valley trip.
Sign up for deal alerts: fifth night free offers, resort credits, and the upgrade windows we would book ourselves.