Death Valley offering limited tours of flood repairs at Scotty’s Castle

Death Valley National Park is offering a limited number of “flood recovery tours” at Scotty’s Castle, which has been closed to the public since a record deluge in October 2015.

The reservation-only tours set to start Sunday will provide a rare glimpse of the popular attraction as workers continue to make repairs to the property and the road leading to it.

The early 20th-century mansion 180 miles northwest of Las Vegas is not expected to reopen for general visitation until 2019 or 2020.

More that three inches of rain fell on the hills above Scotty’s Castle on Oct. 18, 2015, triggering what engineers have called “a probable maximum flood event” in the canyon where millionaire Albert Mussey Johnson built his opulent retreat in the 1920s.

The castle itself was spared by the resulting flash flood, but water and mud inundated two historic buildings on the site and washed away almost a mile of water line, more than 25 power poles, the septic system, and about eight miles of road.

The Scotty’s Castle Flood Recovery Tours are being offered by the National Park Service and the Death Valley Natural History Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and interpreting the park’s natural and cultural resources.

The two-hour tour will be offered twice a day on Sunday, March 12, March 19, March 26 and April 2. It costs $25 per person and involves walking over uneven surfaces. Children younger than six are not allowed.

Each tour is limited to 13 participants and advance reservations are required. Reservations can be made by calling 1-800-478-8564, extension 10. More information is available at www.dvnha.org.

Before the flood, Scotty’s Castle drew about 120,000 people per year, and nearly half took the hourlong tour to see the inside of the main house.

Since then, park service crews and contractors have moved the entire museum collection off-site to protect it from temperature and humidity changes, pests and risk of fire, flood and vandalism.

A temporary access route has been built to enable construction vehicles to reach the castle. Mud and debris have been removed from the historic buildings, walkways and swimming pool. A temporary water line now supplies water to the historic district’s fire suppression system. Electricity has been temporarily restored to most buildings.

Over the next couple years the NPS plans to repair the damaged water reservoir; replace the water supply line, septic tank and leach field; finish repairs to the electrical distribution system; rebuild the road; repair several buildings; install interpretive exhibits and bring the museum collection back to the main house, among dozens of other projects.

Recovery costs from the 2015 flooding in Death Valley are expected to reach $48 million.

Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Follow @RefriedBrean on Twitter.