Las Vegas to Death Valley. Four roads in, all of them long.

From the Las Vegas Strip to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, the middle of Death Valley:

• Via Pahrump and Death Valley Junction: about 120 miles, two and a half hours. The shortest way.
• Via US 95 and Amargosa Valley: about 145 miles, just under three hours.
• Via US 95, Beatty and Daylight Pass: about 160 miles, three and a half hours.
• Via Shoshone and Badwater Road: 172 miles and three and a half hours, by the Park Service’s count.

Drive times are from a routing service, rounded. The Park Service’s own route sheet is a little more optimistic: two hours for the shortest route, two and a half for the US 95 route through Amargosa Valley, three for the Beatty route.

A map to Death Valley from Las Vegas

The Park Service publishes a one-page map of all four routes from Las Vegas, with every turn. Print it or save it. There is no street address for Furnace Creek or its visitor center, and the Park Service says GPS directions out here are notoriously unreliable and have sent drivers down closed and dead-end roads. The visitor center sits at N 36°27.70, W 116°52.00. There is no cell service along most Death Valley roads.

The Park Service names its four routes from Las Vegas, and the names are honest:

• Shortest: Nevada 160 to Pahrump, Bell Vista Road to Death Valley Junction, then CA 190 into the valley. Last big-town fuel stop: Pahrump.
• Easiest: US 95 to Lathrop Wells in Amargosa Valley, then Nevada 373 south to Death Valley Junction. All highway, few turns.
• Ghost Town: US 95 to Beatty, then Nevada 374 over Daylight Pass, past Rhyolite.
• Most Scenic: south through the Tecopa country to Shoshone, then Badwater Road up the floor of the valley.

Driving from Las Vegas to Death Valley and back in one trip? Go in one way and out another. In through Pahrump and out through Beatty makes a good loop.

1. From I-15, take Nevada 160 west.
2. Drive about 60 miles to Pahrump. Turn left on Bell Vista Road, three miles north of Nevada 372.
3. Drive 30 miles to Death Valley Junction, California. Turn right on CA 127.
4. Drive about 300 feet. Turn left on CA 190.
5. Drive 30 miles to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center.

Bell Vista Road crosses the state line past Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Death Valley Junction is the Amargosa Opera House, a Timbisha-owned campground and not much else. The regional visitor brochure lists no gas there.

Fill up in Pahrump

Pahrump is the population center of Nye County and the last big-town fuel stop on this side of Death Valley. The Maverik at 3010 S Nevada Hwy 160, for one, is open 24 hours with regular, premium and diesel. From Pahrump it is about 60 miles to the pumps at Furnace Creek.

Need an entrance pass? Death Valley Marketplace at 3280 W Bell Vista Ave in Pahrump sells the $30 vehicle pass, cash or card, on your way out of town.

The easiest route: Lathrop Wells and Nevada 373

1. From I-15, take US 95 north.
2. Drive about 90 miles to Lathrop Wells, in Amargosa Valley. Turn left on Nevada 373, which becomes CA 127.
3. Drive 25 miles to Death Valley Junction. Turn right on CA 190.
4. Drive 30 miles to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center.

The Area 51 Alien Center sits right at the Nevada 373 turn and sells gas, food and alien everything, 5 AM to 11 PM daily. More on it in our Extraterrestrial Highway guide.

The Ghost Town route: Beatty and Nevada 374

1. From I-15, take US 95 north.
2. Drive about 120 miles to Beatty. Turn left on Nevada 374.
3. Drive 19 miles over Daylight Pass to Hells Gate. Turn left on Beatty Cutoff Road.
4. Drive 10 miles. Turn left on CA 190.
5. Drive 11 miles to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center.

Rhyolite ghost town is just off Nevada 374 on the way. Beatty has gas at the Arco/Rebel and at the Death Valley Nut & Candy stop, and the closest fast EV chargers to Death Valley; Furnace Creek is 43 miles away. See our Beatty, NV guide for the town, and our Las Vegas to Tonopah guide for the rest of US 95.

The Park Service’s most scenic route:

1. From I-15, take Nevada 160 west.
2. Drive 45 miles. Turn left on Tecopa Road, the Old Spanish Trail.
3. Drive 41 miles. Turn right on CA 127.
4. Drive 10 miles. Turn left on CA 178 west, Badwater Road.
5. Drive 75 miles. Turn left on CA 190.
6. Drive one mile to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center.

From Pahrump: Nevada 372 and CA 178

From Pahrump, Nevada 372 runs southwest to the state line and becomes CA 178 into Shoshone, about 27 miles. From Shoshone, CA 178 heads west into Death Valley and up Badwater Road, or CA 127 runs 27 miles north to Death Valley Junction and CA 190.

Badwater Road right now

As of September 28, 2026, the Park Service lists southern Badwater Road, from south of Badwater Basin to Shoshone, with loose gravel, soft shoulders, dust, big drops at the edge, unpaved sections and stretches with no markings, all from flood damage.

Gas in Shoshone

The Charles Brown General Store in Shoshone sells gasoline, diesel and propane, 7 AM to 8:30 PM daily, and sells the $30 Death Valley vehicle pass. More on Shoshone and Tecopa in our Tecopa guide and our Tecopa hot springs page.

How far is Pahrump from Death Valley? Closer than Las Vegas, by about an hour. From the middle of Pahrump:

• Pahrump to Death Valley Junction: 30 miles on Bell Vista Road, about 45 minutes.
• Pahrump to Furnace Creek: about 60 miles, an hour and a half.
• Pahrump to Badwater Basin: about 80 miles by way of Furnace Creek.
• Pahrump to Stovepipe Wells: about 85 miles, just under two hours.
• Pahrump to Shoshone: about 27 miles on Nevada 372.
• Pahrump to Beatty: about 73 miles, by Nevada 160 and US 95.

Death Valley Junction to Pahrump

Coming back, head east from Death Valley Junction on the state-line road that becomes Bell Vista Road. It is 30 miles to Pahrump and Nevada 160, then about 60 more to the Strip.

Drive times are from a routing service, rounded.

• Pahrump: the last big-town fuel stop, on the shortest route. The Maverik on Nevada 160 is open 24 hours.
• Amargosa Valley: the Area 51 Alien Center at US 95 and Nevada 373.
• Beatty: the Arco/Rebel and the Death Valley Nut & Candy stop.
• Shoshone: the Charles Brown General Store.
• Inside Death Valley: Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells and Panamint Springs. That is all of them.

Remote fuel costs more. For budgeting, allow for the possibility of $10 a gallon in Death Valley; that is a planning allowance, not a live pump price. Every station, with grades, diesel and EV charging, is on our Death Valley gas stations page.

It can be done. In through Pahrump, a run down to Badwater Basin and back, and out through Beatty is about 315 miles and seven hours of driving. Leave early.

What fits in a day

For a one-to-three-hour visit, the Park Service’s do-not-miss list is three stops:

• Zabriskie Point: the badlands overlook.
• Badwater Basin: salt flats 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in North America. Furnace Creek to Badwater is about 18 miles.
• Artists Palette: the colored volcanic hills on Artists Drive, off Badwater Road.

With half a day, add Harmony Borax Works (a 0.4-mile walk), Dantes View or the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.

One rule from the people who know

Many Death Valley roads were built in the 1930s. They are narrow and twisty and cannot be driven fast. The Park Service says the most dangerous thing in Death Valley is not the heat; it is the single-car rollover.

For the history and the rest of the sights, see our Death Valley guide.

Drive times are from a routing service, rounded.

• Private vehicle: $30, good for seven days.
• Motorcycle: $25, good for seven days.
• Death Valley annual pass: $55.

Death Valley does not accept cash. Fee machines take physical credit cards around the clock, but not digital wallets. On the routes from Las Vegas, there are machines at the Ryan kiosk at the east entrance on CA 190, Zabriskie Point, Badwater, Hells Gate on Daylight Pass Road and the Furnace Creek Visitor Center.

Want to pay cash? Two places on the way sell the $30 vehicle pass, cash or card: Death Valley Marketplace on Bell Vista Avenue in Pahrump and the Charles Brown Store in Shoshone.