Death Valley is between two and two and a half hours away from Las Vegas, depending on how you get there. Vegas is the closest major city to the park and we recommend starting there if you’re flying into the area. The quickest way to get from Las Vegas to Death Valley is to take Interstate 95 out of the city. From there, you have a couple of options depending on which part of the park you want to see.
If you want to start at the southern end of the park, closer to the city, take 95 north until you reach the town of Amargosa Valley. There, follow the signs to Route 373 South until you hit Death Valley Junction, which is located right at the edge of the park. Taking Route 190 West will take you through Death Valley.
If you want to enter the park through the eastern gate, take Interstate 95 from Las Vegas and keep going, past Amargosa Valley, until you reach Beatty, then turn onto Route 374 South into the park. This route will take only about 10 minutes longer and leads you to the middle of Death Valley instead of the very southern tip.
You can also reach Death Valley from the California side of the park, but that would take longer. It takes about four hours to get from Bakersfield to Death Valley, and about four and a half hours if you’re starting in Los Angeles, so we highly recommend flying into Vegas if you’re coming from far away.
To make the most of your trip to Death Valley, check out our Death Valley Self-Guided Driving Tour. More frequent travelers might also be interested in Action+, a yearly subscription that grants access to all 99+ of our US tours, including the Death Valley one.
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