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Now why anyone would want to live in Death Valley is beyond me but here but Albert Mussey Johnson decided to built his vacation home in Death Valley. It was supposedly built with the money from the gold mine that he had backed but in fact, there was no gold mine and so it was certainly not built with funds from one.

Walter Scott was a miner, a dreamer and apparently a scammer to boot. He convinced Mr. Johnson to invest in the gold mine in Death Valley. It was probably going along just fine (with Scott getting his money from the investment) until Mr. Johnson decided to visit. He thought a tour of the mine would be a good idea. It was hard to do since there wasn't a mine to see.

Mr. Johnson and his wife decided that even though there wasn't a mine in Death Valley they liked the area anyway. With that in mind they decided to build a vacation retreat. The retreat was named Death Valley Ranch but to those that were local and knew the story of Mr. Scott it was known as Scotty's Castle.

The alure of seeing the retreat built by the "richest gold miner in California" was a huge attraction to the rich and famous. They came to see just what that type of money could buy. Mr. Johnson never told that there was no mine. It would have taken some of the charm away from the retreat to know it was built with money he had earned in other ventures and not the mine.

Today there are tours of the castle for anyone that wants to see it. There are interactive displays, living history exhibits and other displays inside the house. There are guided tours available daily on the hour.

The second tour available for you while you are at the castle is of the underground area. It shows you the technology used to provide electricity to the castle. There is a 1/4 mile tunnel system that runs under the castle that you will be able to see.

Thanks for the National Park Service the castle is maintained for people to visit. Technology from the past and present are both used in the lower level of the castle to keep it functioning as it should. You will enjoy the tour and the history of the castle.