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February 25, 2005
Cost of Scotty's Castle tours on the increasePVT The price for the Underground Mysteries tour of the castle basement and passageways will also increase by $2. One hundred percent of all tour fees collected at Scotty's Castle are used to support interpretive and educational programs at this historic house museum. The new fee schedule is as follows: Adults - $11 Seniors 52 or over - $9 Children 6-15 - $6 Golden Access cardholders - $6 Children five and under are admitted free. Though the fee for touring Scotty's Castle has increased, a tour of the castle is still less expensive than many other privately operated historic house museums (i.e. Hearst Castle, Winchester Mystery House, Biltmore Estate, Monticello, etc.). Tours at Scotty's Castle are led by park rangers dressed in period costume who take visitors back in time to the year 1939. When you enter the house everything is in the same immaculate condition as when it was built and occupied by Albert and Bessie Johnson and Death Valley Scotty more than 80 years ago. Along with the artistically hewn redwood beams, hand crafted ironwork accents, and hand-painted tile floors; the clothing of the original occupants still hangs in the closets and armoires. Even when surrounded by all of this beauty and opulence, hearing the theater pipe organ is perhaps the most memorable part of any trip through the castle. The basement of the castle holds marvels of a different sort. One-quarter of a mile of tunnels snake beneath the castle grounds, thousands of unused tiles that were to be used for the never-completed swimming pool line the walls and myriad technological innovations that permitted the castle to be self-sufficient in this harsh desert environment are all on display. Visitors are even treated to a demonstration of a Pelton water wheel that generates the electricity needed to light the exterior lights of the castle. Scotty's Castle is located in the northern end of Death Valley National Park, a unit of the National Park System. For more information about tours, hours of operation, group or bus reservations, or fees, call 760-786-2392. You can also visit the park's Web site at www.nps.gov/deva and click on the "In Depth" link. |
