Oasis at Death Valley

Oasis at Death Valley is a historic resort complex in Furnace Creek, California, situated on private land within the boundaries of Death Valley National Park. The property was formerly known as Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort and developed from two distinct lodging operations: the hillside Furnace Creek Inn, now branded as The Inn at Death Valley, and the valley-floor Furnace Creek Ranch, now known as The Ranch at Death Valley. The resort is owned and operated by Xanterra Travel Collection. The Inn at Death Valley is the older and more upmarket component of the complex. It opened on February 1, 1927, with twelve rooms after the Pacific Coast Borax Company developed the property as part of an effort to encourage tourism in Death Valley. Richard C. Baker, then president of the borax company, viewed visitor travel as a possible new source of revenue for the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, which had been built primarily to transport borax and required additional commercial activity. The inn helped transform Furnace Creek from a mining and transportation outpost into a destination for visitors seeking an organized experience of the desert. During the 1930s, the inn expanded by twenty rooms and added recreational amenities including a swimming pool and tennis courts. The Fred Harvey Company operated the facilities for many years, linking the resort to a major American hospitality and tourism enterprise. The hillside inn now has 66 rooms and traditionally operates seasonally, generally from October through May, reflecting the extreme summer conditions of Death Valley. The Ranch at Death Valley is a separate lodging facility located on the valley floor beside the park's visitor center. It provides a more extensive resort setting than the inn and is associated with additional visitor attractions, including the Borax Museum. The museum presents equipment and tools from the Pacific Coast Borax Company's mining operations, models of twenty-mule-team wagon trains, pioneer artifacts, and mineral specimens. Its building originated in 1883, when it served as an office, bunkhouse, and ore-checking station in Twenty Mule Team Canyon. It was relocated to Furnace Creek Ranch in 1954 and subsequently became a permanent interpretive feature of the property. The resort's appeal rests on its combination of historic hospitality, desert scenery, national-park access, and links to the region's borax-mining history. Its setting also places it near one of the world's most extreme climatic environments: the Furnace Creek area is associated with the July 10, 1913, temperature measurement of 56.7 degrees Celsius, or 134.1 degrees Fahrenheit, commonly cited as the highest officially recorded air temperature on Earth. The Inn at Death Valley is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the National Trust for Historic Preservation's official program for historically significant hotels. Today, Oasis at Death Valley functions as a destination hospitality operation rather than a standalone inn brand. Its offer combines lodging, historic interpretation, resort amenities, and access to Death Valley's natural and cultural attractions. The Inn and Ranch remain separate accommodation facilities under the broader Oasis at Death Valley identity.

The origins of Oasis at Death Valley lie in the Pacific Coast Borax Company's attempt to create a tourism economy around its Death Valley operations. Richard C. Baker, the company's president, supported the development of a hotel at Furnace Creek because the company-owned Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad needed traffic beyond the shipment of borax. The resulting Furnace Creek Inn opened on February 1, 1927, with twelve rooms. Its creation established a formal visitor base in a region better known at the time for mining, transportation, and severe desert conditions. The inn grew during the 1930s, when twenty rooms were added along with a swimming pool and tennis courts. These improvements made the property more suitable for destination travel and helped define Furnace Creek as a resort location rather than merely a service point for mining activity. The Fred Harvey Company operated the facilities for decades, bringing the property into the operating orbit of a prominent American hospitality company known for serving travelers at railway and tourist destinations. The broader resort later developed around two separate facilities. The hillside inn provided the more intimate and historically oriented accommodation, while the Furnace Creek Ranch offered lodging on the valley floor near the park visitor center. The ranch also became the home of the Borax Museum. The museum building dates from 1883 and was originally used in Twenty Mule Team Canyon as a Pacific Coast Borax Company office, bunkhouse, and ore-checking station. In 1954, the structure was moved to Furnace Creek Ranch, where it was adapted for public display. Its collections document borax extraction, mule-team transportation, pioneer life, and regional geology. The original Furnace Creek Inn is now known as The Inn at Death Valley. It has 66 rooms and is generally open from October through May, a seasonal pattern shaped by the region's exceptionally hot summers. The former Furnace Creek Ranch is now called The Ranch at Death Valley and remains a distinct lodging operation from the inn. Together, the facilities were marketed for a period as Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort and are now presented under the Oasis at Death Valley identity. The property occupies private land within the boundaries of Death Valley National Park, giving it a distinctive relationship with the surrounding protected landscape. Its location provides access to the park while maintaining a resort infrastructure of its own. The Furnace Creek area is also associated with the 1913 measurement of 56.7 degrees Celsius, or 134.1 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature widely recognized as the highest official air-temperature record on Earth. This extreme setting is central to the resort's identity and visitor appeal. The Inn at Death Valley's membership in Historic Hotels of America recognizes the site's historic hospitality role. Under Xanterra Travel Collection, Oasis at Death Valley operates as a destination resort that joins accommodation with historic interpretation, desert recreation, and national-park tourism. Its evolution reflects the broader transformation of Death Valley from an industrial borax landscape into a major American travel destination.

• 1954

  Borax Museum relocates to Furnace Creek Ranch

  [1]Oasis at Death Valleyen.wikipedia.org

  The historic mining building was moved from Twenty Mule Team Canyon to Furnace Creek Ranch, where it became a museum.

• 1930

  Inn expansion period

  [1]Oasis at Death Valleyen.wikipedia.org

  During the 1930s, the inn added twenty rooms and introduced a swimming pool and tennis courts. The exact completion year is not specified in the reference material.

• 1927

  Furnace Creek Inn opens

  [1]Oasis at Death Valleyen.wikipedia.org

  The original Furnace Creek Inn opened on February 1 with twelve rooms, marking the beginning of the resort's formal hospitality operation.

• 1883

  Borax Museum building constructed

  [1]Oasis at Death Valleyen.wikipedia.org

  The building that later became the Borax Museum was erected in Twenty Mule Team Canyon for Pacific Coast Borax Company use as an office, bunkhouse, and ore-checking station.

• Resort adopts Oasis at Death Valley identity

  [1]Oasis at Death Valleyen.wikipedia.org

  The former Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort came to be presented as Oasis at Death Valley, with the two principal accommodations renamed The Inn at Death Valley and The Ranch at Death Valley.

A historic desert resort combining upscale lodging, national-park access, and interpretation of Death Valley's borax-mining heritage.

• Luxury historic hotel · 1927

  The Inn at Death Valley

  The former Furnace Creek Inn is the hillside lodging component of Oasis at Death Valley. It began operating in 1927 with twelve rooms, expanded during the 1930s, and now has 66 rooms. The inn is positioned as the more historic and upscale accommodation within the complex and generally operates seasonally from October through May.

• Resort lodging

  The Ranch at Death Valley

  The former Furnace Creek Ranch is a separate accommodation facility on the valley floor near the Death Valley National Park visitor center. It complements the hillside inn with a broader ranch-style resort setting and provides access to the Borax Museum and other visitor amenities.

• Historic and cultural attraction · 1954

  Borax Museum

  Located at The Ranch at Death Valley, the Borax Museum interprets the area's mining and settlement history. Its displays include Pacific Coast Borax Company tools and equipment, twenty-mule-team wagon models, pioneer artifacts, and mineral specimens. The museum occupies a building originally constructed in 1883 and relocated to the ranch in 1954.

1. 1Oasis at Death Valleyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2The Oasis at Death Valley official websiteoasisatdeathvalley.com