Death Valley National Park is still barring all entry to the Lower Springs area of Saline Valley Warm Springs Campground after a fire around 7 p.m. on September 15, 2026. The park’s Alerts and Conditions page lists Lower pools as closed, and a superintendent order effective September 16 stays in force until the National Park Service rescinds it.
The traveler decision is split, not parkwide. Crystal Pool and the rest of Lower Springs remain off limits because of fire hazards, while the camping strip between Lower Springs and the Palm Springs section of that same primitive campground is open. Anyone building a Death Valley National Park itinerary this fall should plan soaking time around that closure, not around a full campground shutdown.
- Closed now: Saline Valley Lower Springs, including soaking tubs and Crystal Pool, closed to all entry since September 16, 2026.
- Open now: Camping between Lower Springs and the Palm Springs section of Saline Valley Warm Springs Campground.
- Cause: Fire about 7 p.m. September 15 in the Lower Springs area; no injuries, all campers and hosts evacuated.
- Why it lasts: Possible hazardous chemicals, melted piping, debris, unstable trees, and remaining hot spots.
- Reopen date: None posted. The order stays until the superintendent rescinds it.
Lower Springs Stays Closed After the September 15 Fire
The park’s September 16 news release said the fire started around 7 p.m. the previous evening inside the Lower Springs area of Saline Valley Warm Springs Campground, a remote western pocket about 40 miles from the nearest paved road. There were no injuries to campers or hosts, and everyone was evacuated. The fire stayed inside Lower Springs. The Palm Springs section of the primitive campground did not burn.
Superintendent Mike Reynolds told the public the same day to stay away from Saline Valley Campground until hazards were assessed and the site was safe. That first-day hold covered the whole campground. By Friday, September 18, the park reopened a portion of the site. The burned Lower Springs area stayed closed, a split the Pahrump Valley Times reported on September 25 after Deputy Superintendent Abby Wines confirmed remaining hot spots and a debris job that could not start until the interior cooled.
What the Closure Order Actually Covers
The live legal line is the superintendent’s compendium, not the first news release. Effective September 16, 2026, under 36 CFR 1.5, Saline Valley’s Lower Springs area is closed to all entry. The closed zone includes the former grass lawn, the campground host site, the soaking tubs including Crystal Pool, and surrounding ground shown on the park’s closure map. The order applies to everyone except government contractors or employees on official duty, and it remains in effect until it is rescinded.
The park’s finding lists more than melted pipe. It cites unstable dead trees, holes, toxins, volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and other health risks from the September 15 fire. The Alerts and Conditions page, with road status updated as recently as September 28, still flags Lower pools as closed and points to those chemical hazards. Until that page and the compendium both change, a traveler who drives in for a soak at Lower Springs is entering a posted closed area.
Palm Springs Camping Is Open, Lower Pools Are Not
Do not treat the whole Saline Valley Warm Springs complex as closed. The conditions page lists Saline Valley primitive campground as partially open: Lower Springs is closed, and the camping area between Lower Springs and Palm Springs is open. That is the current access map for overnight stays. The Palm Springs section itself was not burned, according to both the park release and the independent Pahrump Valley Times account.
Lower Springs is where the soaking infrastructure sat. The park’s first assessment said piping to and from those pools melted while the soaking tubs appeared undamaged. That is not a green light to use them. The tubs sit inside the closed zone with the host site and Crystal Pool. If your trip is built around a Lower Springs soak, change the plan. If it is built around a dry camp on the open strip, the park still has a place for you, provided you stay out of the closed ground.
Remote Access and Fire Damage on the Ground
Saline Valley Warm Springs is not a roadside stop. The park places it about 40 miles from the nearest paved road in a very remote western part of Death Valley. That distance is why a local fire became a multi-week access problem. There is no quick ranger loop, no nearby hardware store, and no same-day debris haul. Anyone driving in should carry extra water, a full spare, and a plan that does not depend on Lower Springs water lines or a camp host.
The fire’s main fuel was skirts of dead palm fronds on about 80 nonnative palm trees. Most of those trees burned; the park said some are likely to survive. A shed at the volunteer camp host site was destroyed and is listed as a potential source of hazardous materials. The U.S. Wildland Fire Service is investigating the cause and led the response. None of that investigation needs to finish before a traveler decides: the closed signs are already up.
Lodging choices on the Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells side of the park are a different decision from this backcountry soak. Use the park’s own where to stay near Death Valley map when the Saline Valley drive is no longer worth the risk, rather than assuming a Lower Springs reopening date that the park has not set.
Other Death Valley Access Limits This Fall
This Lower Springs closure is a separate stream from the park’s Titus Canyon road work. Titus Canyon Road is temporarily open after initial repairs, with the one-way section due to close for repairs from October 2, 2026, through May 2027, and the two-way western section due to close October 27 through December, per the same conditions page. Deep Arrival’s earlier note on Titus Canyon access from October 1 covers that canyon, not Saline Valley.
Elsewhere in the park, Bonnie Clare Road and Scotty’s Castle remain closed for flood recovery, with no pedestrian access and no reopening date. Darwin Falls Road is listed as gone in many places and likely closed until summer 2027, though hikers may park on the shoulder of California 190 and walk in. Emigrant Campground and restrooms are closed indefinitely for water-system repairs. Those limits matter for a Death Valley loop. They do not change the Lower Springs order.
| If you… | What to do |
|---|---|
| Wanted to soak at Lower Springs or Crystal Pool | Do not go. The tubs are inside a closure that is still in force as of October 1, 2026. |
| Wanted a dry camp at Saline Valley Warm Springs | Use the open camping strip between Lower Springs and Palm Springs, and stay out of the burned host site and pools. |
| Need a soak and a developed campground | Skip Saline Valley for now and book Furnace Creek or Mesquite Spring, which the park lists as open. |
| Already left the pavement toward Saline Valley | Turn around if your only goal was Lower Springs. There is no posted reopen date to wait out on the road. |
September 16, 2026 is the legal start of the Lower Springs closure. The superintendent order remains until it is rescinded. Do not treat the September 16 news release as expired just because it is two weeks old.
September 18, 2026 is the partial reopen. Camping between Lower Springs and Palm Springs came back that Friday. That reopen did not restore the pools.
No rescind date is posted. Recheck the Alerts and Conditions page the morning you leave. A social post is not a substitute for the live order.
Is Saline Valley Warm Springs open right now?
Partly. The camping area between Lower Springs and the Palm Springs section is open. Lower Springs, including the soaking tubs and Crystal Pool, is closed to all entry.
Are the Lower Springs pools closed in Death Valley?
Yes. The park lists Lower pools as closed on its Alerts and Conditions page after the September 15, 2026 fire, citing safety hazards including potential hazardous chemicals.
When did the Saline Valley campground fire start?
Around 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, in the Lower Springs area. The park said there were no injuries and that everyone was evacuated.
Can I camp at Palm Springs in Saline Valley?
The Palm Springs section of this campground did not burn, and the park says camping between Lower Springs and Palm Springs is open. Stay out of the closed Lower Springs zone.
How far is Saline Valley Warm Springs from a paved road?
About 40 miles from the nearest paved road, in a remote western part of Death Valley National Park, according to the park’s September 16 release.
When will Lower Springs reopen?
The park has not posted a date. The September 16 closure order stays in effect until the superintendent rescinds it. Check nps.gov/deva conditions before you drive.
