It refers to an actual furnace, built near the canyon mouth by Asabel Bennett in 1860 to test ore samples for silver. Long gone, of course, is that small stone furnace. Nor does the creek run here any longer. Its water, which came from nearby Travertine Springs, is now piped throughout the Furnace Creek complex for domestic, commercial, and irrigation purposes. A low brown building on the west side of Highway 190 houses both the Visitor Center and Death Valley National Park Headquarters.
Parking is on the south side.
Save the receipt until you leave the Park. In the auditorium, to the left of the entrance, video and slide orientation programs are presented continuously. Ranger talks and evening programs are also presented in the auditorium check the schedule. About one-third of the Visitor Center is taken up by the museum. You can breeze through the museum in five minutes or spend a solid hour or more studying the exhibits and learning about the history, biology, botany, geology, and meteorology of Death Valley.