This con man’s striking Death Valley castle is closer than ever to a reopening date

Old batteries used for power are still stored in the basement of Scotty's Castle Friday Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

DEATH VALLEY, Calif. — Ten years ago, clad in a vintage, knee-length rayon dress and a 1930s accent to match, park ranger Abby Wines would have been in character as Bessie and Albert Johnson’s hired help, talking up the lore of the con man of Scotty’s Castle.

This time, standing in the castle’s grand-yet-empty foyer, Wines appeared as herself. She easily found her footing again as she led her first tour of the site in years, speaking to a small group of journalists.

It has been more than a decade since a storm system parked itself over Scotty’s Castle, bringing a year’s worth of rain in five hours: biblical floods that would force its closure. Wines, who said she was a few years into a manager role for the tour guides at the time, was left with hurt feelings.

Abby Wines, Death Valley National Park acting deputy superintendent, shows off sketches of possible designs for the never-built pool at Scotty's Castle as reconstruction continues from massive flood damage a decade ago on Friday Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. Painted tiles are still stored in the basement which were never used for the possible pool that remained a moat outside. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

“I went around and started telling my co-workers how mad I was at the castle for ending this 10-year relationship,” Wines said. “It was deeply personal, more so than it logically should be.”

To this day, following multiple storms, a fire that burned down the visitor center into asbestos-filled ash and funding-related delays, the attraction that drew roughly 100,000 visitors per year to the park is closed.

The Chimes Tower is a prominent feature at Scotty's Castle with a moat below Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

Park officials say the castle is two or three years off from a reopening date after $90 million in repairs, though rangers are running limited flood recovery tours for the first three months of the year. (The tours quickly sold out after the park’s announcement in December, but more are expected next year.)

The ultimate con man

The Spanish Revival-style castle is unlike any other structure in the park, which is about two hours west of Las Vegas. And the con man it was built to honor was a rarity, too.

Walter Edward Perry Scott, born in 1872 on a farm in Kentucky, transformed into a man of Death Valley legend. He left home at age 11, coming to Nevada via train to become a water carrier for a survey team along the California state line.

The Chimes Tower is a prominent feature at Scotty's Castle with a moat below Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

He later found work in Death Valley at the Harmony Borax Works, a plant that produced about three tons of borax each day, rangers say. But he found his true calling — performance — as a roughrider in the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, a traveling live performance that dramatized the American West.

The gravesite of Death Valley Scotty sits atop a hill overlooking Scotty's Castle Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

His acting skills served him well later on when he moved on to gold prospecting. Or, more aptly, convincing wealthy investors that he had struck gold in Death Valley, and that they needed to move quickly to invest their cash.

Then come in the Johnsons, who despite being deeply religious formed an unlikely friendship with the gun-slinging cowboy. They were the only ones who stuck around after a staged gunfight went wrong, and all of his investors stopped believing Scotty’s fable.

Scotty's Castle, in a stitched panoramic image, continues to be repaired from massive flood damage a decade ago on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

“A reporter once looked right at Albert Johnson and asked him who he was, and he said, ‘Oh, I’m just Scotty’s banker,’” Wines said with a laugh. “It’s kind of true.”

A marker for Death Valley Scotty sits atop a hill near his gravesite overlooking Scotty's Castle Friday Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

The Johnsons bought in to the Scotty story in more ways than one. They built the ornate vacation home in Death Valley from scratch after Albert Johnson’s health appeared to improve when he came to visit Scotty’s supposed “gold mine.” Construction started in 1922 but was not completed until 1931.

David Blacker, director of the Death Valley Natural History Association, said Scotty was a product of his time. And that period of the Old West brought out more than a couple no-good characters, Blacker said.

“When I think about Scotty, I don’t see him as the con man,” Blacker said, adding that Scotty was almost like an old-time influencer. “I see him as a man of his time who was trying to make a living the best way he knew how.”

Scotty's Castle continues to be repaired from massive flood damage a decade ago on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

Tours date back decades

It only cost $1.10 to tour Scotty’s Castle in its early days, and the tall tale of Death Valley Scotty attracted the likes of actors Bette Davis and John Barrymore.

The courtyard main entrance to Scotty's Castle Friday Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

Scotty continued on with the gold mine con, Wines said, even hiring staff to bang pots and pans in the tunnels built underneath the structure to add to the illusion.

Still, there was something entertaining that made the Johnsons trust him. One of Wines’ favorite lines Bessie Johnson wrote in her book “Death Valley Scotty” was her description that “underneath that five gallon hat is a five gallon heart.”

Death Valley Scotty is featured on the weather vane above Scotty's Castle Friday Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

Today, Wines and Blacker have high hopes that the castle will one day be full, with people and the original, meticulously preserved artifacts and furniture that are being stored off-site.

Decorative woodwork and painted tiles within the music room at Scotty's Castle as reconstruction continues from massive flood damage a decade ago on Friday Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

One of the assurances that a flood won’t delay the opening date is a now-finished berm system that has prepared the site for the worst flooding possible. Sprinklers now hang from the ceiling to fight fires, too.

“A couple years from now, it will be again like you’re stepping back in time into the ‘20s and ‘30s, the heyday of Scotty’s Castle,” Wines said.

Until then, Scotty keeps a watchful eye over his castle — even though, as Wines points out, it wasn’t really his.

Scotty died in 1954 and is buried up on a hill with a wooden cross, ready to greet the next round of visitors. His grave offers some final advice: “I got four things to live by: Don’t say nothing that will hurt anybody. Don’t give advice — nobody will take it anyway. Don’t complain. Don’t explain.”

Scotty's Castle continues to be repaired from massive flood damage a decade ago on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

The Chimes Tower is a prominent feature at Scotty's Castle with a moat below. The property continues to be repaired from massive flood damage a decade ago on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

A decorative gate, one of two, secures the courtyard and main entrance at Scotty's Castle Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

A sundial is seen above the courtyard at Scotty's Castle Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

A tiled water feature in the Spanish bedroom at Scotty's Castle Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

A decorative sink with running water within the kitchen at Scotty's Castle, which continues to be repaired from massive flood damage a decade ago, on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

A chandelier hangs in the great hall within Scotty's Castle Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

Abby Wines, Death Valley National Park acting deputy superintendent, takes a cover off an organ within the music room at Scotty's Castle as reconstruction continues from massive flood damage a decade ago on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Death Valley National Park. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

The ultimate con man

Tours date back decades

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