Sunset Campground

Not bad as I thought it was going to be. Not many folks in the approximately 400 'sites'.
Super clean bathrooms and areas to wash dishes.
Dump available at one location.
We used this affordable location (1/2 off $14 charge for interagency senior pass) to explore Death Valley.
No over the air TV, radio stations or cell coverage.
Super easy to get to and level parking for the most part.

We would come back here.

We were happy we had solar but there are a lot of generators running from 8AM until 9PM. This is nothing but a gravel parking lot but it worked out fine. The sites are big enough for a large rig plus a car. Sunset gives you great access to all the sites in Death Valley. You are very centrally located. I was surprised how many tent campers showed up on Friday night. When I was a tent camper I never was comfortable setting up my tent on top of gravel, but many people did. During the week it was not crowded at all. Dump site inside Sunset is convenient and if you get a line there is one outside of Sunset for Furnace Creek.

At some point you will need to fill up with gas since Death Valley is the largest National Park in the lower 48 and some attractions are 1.5 hour drive away. Gas at Furnace Creek is outrageous, $4.94 per gallon. But if you are heading towards the Mesquite Sand Dunes fill up 8 miles past at Stovepipe Wells. Gas there was $4.14 per gallon. My $7 per night was with the senior access pass. Normally it is $14 per night.

I only used a rest room once and it seemed clean enough.

It’s basically a parking lot. Located across the street from the visitor center and gas station. Not too far from most of the major vista points. Took a little while to locate the dump station at the north end of the lot. Multiple dumpsters which are convenient. Good views of the mountains although you’re probably here to see other places within the park. Only got 3G signal with AT&T here but managed to do some Black Friday online shopping with it. Gets very windy at night hence the noise.

We stayed in early February so the weather was great at the site was pretty busy. We chose to stay here for access to fresh water and a dump station, but got so much more! You’re surrounded by mountains and sand dunes, the night sky is full of stars, the sunsets are gorgeous, the large lot is great for walking and meeting other campers, and there’s a hotel across the street with WiFi, groceries and a couple of restaurants.

I worked from my laptop in the hotel lobby for a few hours one day and purchased the 24-hour package for $10. We also ate at the breakfast buffet for $16/person and children under 5 were free. This was great because our fridge broke during our stay.

The generator hours are 7AM-9PM and we don’t have solar set up yet so this was great. Our 1-year-old made friends with lots of neighbors and everyone was very friendly.

Cell service was great the first day but not the second and we have no idea why. We have AT&T.

Sunset Campgound is centrally located, across from the Furnace Creek Ranch. It is a dusty parking lot, with sites marked by parking barriers and white paint. Reservations are not available, but I was here during the first week it was open for the season, and it was not 10% occupied. I camped in the last row at the bottom end, and had a good view. Payment is made by credit card at digital kiosks. My $7/night reflects a 50% discount with a senior pass. There is water and a dump station. If there is a line for the dump station, there is another one just outside the campground, across the street from the gas station.

I had 5 bars of Verizon 3G, and voice worked, by data was intermittent. I could occasionally get emails and the weather forecast. There was a slow 4G signal at Dantes Peak, and fast 4G in Beatty, just the other side of Rhyolite ghost town.

Do not buy gas at Furnace Creek - it's an absolute rip-off. Fill up at Stovepipe Wells, or if you're going to Rhyolite, fill up in Beatty. Prices were $5.52 at Furnace Creek, $4.71 at Stovepipe Wells, and $3.55 in Beatty. The Beatty price was typical for Nevada at that time.

Lets face it, it is what it is - a big gravel parking lot. But here's the deal - it's centrally located, inexpensive, and there's always room. We stayed here back in 2016 when the super bloom was occurring and even then, with the park overrun with tourists and campers, there was room. When the main lot gets full, the park opens overflow areas. It's really nice to know that there is still one National Park where you can pull in and find a place to camp without making a reservation nine months in advance.

Actually, Sunset is not a bad place to camp. The view isn't bad at all, there are restrooms with flush toilets, a dump station (with potable water), and utility sinks for tent campers. There are pretty generous generator hours, but actually most campers seem to do without which is nice. We always end up having interesting neighbors at Sunset and enjoy the people we meet here. It's a very democratic sort of campground - people camping in tents, vans, big 40' class A motorhomes, truck campers, trailers, even their cars. Everybody is welcome!

One thing to note: we always looked forward to going across the street to the Furnace Creek Ranch general store for a coffee and ice cream bar, but the ranch is undergoing renovation at the moment and the store has moved to much smaller, temporary and hard to find digs (near the golf course). Construction is supposed to be finished this summer, but don't get your hopes up. You can walk to the DV visitors center though and that's a plus.

Tip: fuel up before you come - gas is expensive in the park, especially at Furnace Creek.