Scotty’s Castle has been closed to the public since a flash flood tore through Grapevine Canyon on 18 October 2015. The Death Valley landmark now opens only for ticketed walking tours of its grounds. Park officials said in January 2026 that a full reopening was still two to three years away.
Can You Visit Scotty’s Castle Right Now?
Not at the moment. As of 10 September 2026 the Scotty’s Castle area remains closed to general visitors, and the National Park Service allows access to the castle and Grapevine Canyon only as part of a ticketed tour.
The 2026 tour season has already finished. Rangers led grounds tours on selected Sundays from 4 January to 29 March 2026, and every date sold out. Park staff said in January that more tours were expected the following year, but no dates had been published as of early September 2026.
Tickets cost $35 per person plus a processing fee, are capped at 20 people per tour and must be booked at least 48 hours ahead through the Death Valley Natural History Association.
What the October 2015 Flood Destroyed
The flood wrecked the historic district’s roads, power, water and sewer systems in a single night. Scotty’s Castle took two and three-quarter inches of rain in five hours on 18 October 2015 — roughly a year’s worth — on top of half an inch the previous day.
The Park Service’s own account of the damage is specific:
- Access road: most of the eight-mile Bonnie Clare Road was destroyed.
- Power: more than 20 poles were washed away.
- Water supply: the spring house, one of the two reservoirs and the 4,000-foot pipeline were lost.
- Sewer: the leach field and septic tank were destroyed and the collection pipes clogged with rock.
- Buildings: the garage and long shed took the worst of it, with water breaking through windows, doors and walls and leaving four feet of mud and rock inside.
The Hacienda and the Main House were damaged too, though far less severely. National parks are unusually exposed to this kind of single-event damage — a hydrothermal explosion at Yellowstone destroyed a boardwalk in July 2024 in much the same way.
Why the Repairs Took Ten Years
Rebuilding the utilities was slow, and then a series of further disasters set the work back. The site was hit repeatedly while it was still being repaired.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 18 October 2015 | Flash flood closes the historic district |
| 22 April 2021 | Fire destroys the historic garage and damages the long shed |
| 2021 | A further flood adds to the damage |
| 2023 | Hurricane Hilary hits Death Valley |
| 2024 | Record heat slows work on site |
| 7 December 2024 | First flood-recovery walking tours begin |
| 4 January 2026 | Second tour season opens and sells out |
The April 2021 fire was the sharpest setback. Construction contractors arriving at the worksite on the morning of Thursday 22 April found the building already alight and tried to stop it spreading into the long shed before firefighters reached the site. The main house and the other historic structures were unharmed, and the Park Service said the cause was unknown and under investigation.
The building the fire destroyed was the historic garage, which had served as the site’s visitor centre.
Has Scotty’s Castle Reopened, or Not?
Only the grounds have reopened, and only on guided tours. Headlines describing the castle as reopening after ten years overstate what actually happened.
The interior has not been open to the public at any point since October 2015. What returned was a ranger-led walk around the outside, covering the history of the mining scheme behind the castle’s construction and the state of the repairs.
The 2026 season was also not the first. Flood-recovery tours started on Saturday 7 December 2024 and ran to 23 March 2025, a year before the coverage that treated the January 2026 dates as a reopening. Not every closed attraction gets even this far: Marineland closed permanently and moved its whales out.
When Will Scotty’s Castle Fully Reopen?
No firm date has been announced, and the target has already slipped by several years. In November 2024 the Park Service expected a full reopening in autumn 2026 — that is, now.
By January 2026 that had changed. Abby Wines, acting deputy superintendent of Death Valley National Park, and David Blacker, director of the Death Valley Natural History Association, were quoted that month putting a full reopening two to three years out.
The work still outstanding includes returning the preserved artefacts and furniture held off-site, finishing the protective berm system and installing ceiling sprinklers. Flood defences already in place include berms and gabion baskets intended to protect the estate from the next Grapevine Canyon storm.
What the Restoration Has Cost
Published figures differ, and the gap is worth knowing about before quoting either one. The Park Service’s own account of the 2015 flood puts the repair bill at about $66 million.
Park officials quoted in January 2026 gave a higher figure of roughly $90 million for the restoration. Proceeds from the $35 tours go toward the conservation work, though they are a small contribution against a total of that size.
For scale, Scotty’s Castle drew about 100,000 visitors a year before the flood, out of roughly 1.4 million who visit Death Valley National Park annually.
Who Was Death Valley Scotty?
Walter Scott was a con man and former Buffalo Bill Wild West Show performer who sold shares in a gold mine that did not exist. One of the investors he took money from was Albert Mussey Johnson, a Chicago insurance millionaire.
Johnson travelled to Death Valley to inspect the mine, worked out that there was none, and became Scott’s friend anyway. Johnson and his wife Bessie built the house — formally Death Valley Ranch — between 1922 and 1931 as a desert retreat.
Scott let everyone believe he had paid for the place out of his secret mines. He lived on the property until his death in 1954 and is buried on the hill above it. The estate is now part of Death Valley National Park.
“The story of how it came to be in this extremely unlikely place is what makes it so special,” Wines told the Associated Press in January 2026.
Common Questions About Scotty’s Castle
Is Scotty’s Castle Open in 2026?
Only partly, and not continuously. Grounds tours ran from 4 January to 29 March 2026 and have finished for the year; the buildings themselves stay closed.
How Much Does a Scotty’s Castle Tour Cost?
$35 per person plus a processing fee, booked through the Death Valley Natural History Association at least 48 hours in advance, with 20 places per tour.
Was Scotty’s Castle Damaged by the Fire or the Flood?
Both, but different buildings. The 2015 flood hit the utilities, the road and the garage and long shed; the 2021 fire destroyed the garage outright while leaving the main house untouched.
Can You See Inside Scotty’s Castle?
Not in person. The interior has been shut since 2015, though the Death Valley Conservancy has published a virtual tour of the building.
Where Is Scotty’s Castle?
In Grapevine Canyon in the northern part of Death Valley National Park, California.
