One of the lodgings at Stovepipe Wells/David and Kay Scott

In late spring the National Park Service released a prospectus for the Death Valley National Park concession at Stovepipe Wells Village. The concession offers lodging, food and beverage, gas, and retail at the only NPS-owned commercial complex within the park. The national park’s three other major facilities, the Inn at Death Valley, the Ranch at Death Valley, and Panamint Springs Resort, are each inholdings, privately-owned land within the park. 

The Stovepipe Wells contract is for 10 years, with an effective date of January 1, 2024. Proposals are due to the NPS by this September 12.

According to the prospectus, Stovepipe Wells was named for a stovepipe long ago positioned at a water well that was frequently difficult to locate due to shifting sand.  The area was first developed when a toll road and lodging in the form of open air bungalows plus restaurant facilities were constructed in the 1920s. The toll road was subsequently acquired by the state of California in 1934, and today’s updated lodging and eating facilities date from the 1950s and 1960s. The Stovepipe concession was once operated by Xanterra Parks and Resorts, the privately-held firm that owns and operates both the Inn and Ranch at Furnace Creek.

Stovepipe Wells Village is a commercial complex of nearly a dozen buildings that give it the appearance of a remote western town. The facility has a total of 83 guest rooms in several motel-style buildings, a saloon, restaurant, gift shop, general store, gas station and RV campground.

NPS estimates a new concessionaire will require an initial outlay of $3.3 million, approximately half of which is for personal property (furniture, equipment, fixtures, etc.).  The prospectus requires that all lodging room personal property be replaced. The concessionaire will also be required to redevelop six employee RV campsites with landscaping and site furnishings. A minimum franchise fee of 7 percent of gross receipts and a component renewal reserve of 2 percent is required. 

The concessionaire’s gross receipts for 2019, the last full year prior to the pandemic lowering the boom on travel, was just under $9 million.  This was derived 37 percent from lodging, 24 percent from retail, 19 percent from food and beverage, 18 percent from the service station, and the remainder from the campground and miscellaneous.  The NPS estimates that gross receipts will range from $9.5 million to $11.1 million in 2024, the year the contract is to take effect.   

Having stayed at each of Death Valley’s four lodges, we found Stovepipe Wells offers the most authentic desert experience. 

David and Kay Scott are authors of Complete Guide to the National Parks (Globe Pequot).