SnO2 nanorods having the rutile structure have been prepared by annealing fine SnO2 powder in a NaCl flux. The starting SnO2 powder, the NaCl flux, and surfactant NP9 were mixed and heated at 800 °C for 2.5 h. The nanorods have diameters of ca. 20–40 nm and lengths of up to 1 μm. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the nanorods were well-crystallized with a rutile structure. The structure features and chemical composition of the as-prepared nanorods were analyzed by XRD, TEM, HRTEM, SAED, EDS and FTIR. A possible growth mechanism of the nanorods was described by the studies of the formation of nanorods with comparative experiments. The effects of NaCl and NP9 are discussed in detail.