Best Cabin Camping near Darwin, CA

This campground location was ideal as it was right next to the visitor center. Like most NP camp sites, they are pretty close to one another. Most sites had no or little shade and you’re lucky if you get one with a little bit of brush to hide from the beating sun heat. The picnic tables are metal, which doesn’t make sense to me given everything gets really hot in the desert. Fire pit was also provided, but we didn’t use. There are few bathroom locations within the park, they were cleaned daily and very basic, but with running water. You have to dump your trash all the way near the front of the campground. RVs with generators made a lot of noise and were not separate from tent sites. The stars at night are amazing!

Most reviews here are dated. Campground has been abandoned for years so: no fees, busted up roads, no water, no trash, no bathrooms, no cell/wifi. Basically dispersed camping in an awesome location on concrete spurs/pads.  Each site still had picnic table and fire pit.  The mosquitos here are biblical at night so bring your nets and deet.  Kern creek and trails right from campground. General store and Grumpy Bear tavern close down the road.  Only 2 other campers here when I stayed in October. Great place as long as you are expecting disbursed camping experience.

This campground is right in Death Valley and has low prices but limited facilities as you would expect in the National Parks. There are 136 sites all with picnic tables and fire rings. There are flush toilets, water and an RV dump station on site. 9 back in RV sites have hookups and there are 9 pull through sites with hookups. There is a visitor center and small store within 300' of the campground. There is a gas station a short drive down the highway. There is very little shade. Be sure to have an awning of shade cloth with poles as it gets warm.

My site 055 shares a paved pad with 054. This would be great if you are camping with someone in another RV.

Get up early for sunrise at Zabriskie Point.

My husband and I were at Death Valley 8 years ago (2011) staying in Furnace Creek hotel rooms. This year (2019) we returned with our tents as part of a California National Park tent trip and wow were we surprised! The park has had a major renovation with great shopping and options for your stay. With our senior park pass we get into the parks free and camping is 50% off, so our two night stay was a whopping $16.00. We drove up to the newly remodeled inn that has rooms for 350-600$ a night, and while we were there, someone was arriving via helicopter, truly a luxury resort. We learned that the owner of the LA kings hockey team has purchased the resort and has many improvements planned.

We were reminded how far everything is within the park, you may choose to hike a trail and it may be an hour or two drive away, there is gas in the park, but you may a nice price for it! The main gas station in furnace creek had gas for $5.46 per gallon, however gas at the stovepipe wells was only $4.21.

We choose the hike to zabrieski point for sunrise and sunset, the natural bridge (very rough road) and the 8.5 round trip hike to wild rose peak which was very challenging.

This year, Scotty’s castle is closed until 2020 due to flood damage, so we were happy we had seen it on our prior visit.

We camped at furnace creek campground which is one of the few open after Memorial Day and is first come, first serve, no advance reservations. We arrived around noon and most sites were available, however later that night, most were occupied. The campground has many toilets with running water and flush toilets, and there is a dishwashing station by most bathrooms. There are tent sites and full hookup sites. There are trash dumpsters with areas for recycling and empty propane containers. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring.

There is a golf course, swimming pool, horse riding (closes in May), many nice restaurants and a spa.

Here’s the best deal, for 10$ per person you get a pool and shower pass for all day! The pool is awesome, spring fed warm water. The showers have massive pressure with hot water.

This is a nice place to start your tour of Death Valley. We stayed in site 85 with our travel trailer which was close to the toilets and wash station. The site was roomy and level. There isn't a lot of vegetation, so you always have other campers in your line of sight. Unless you are a tent camper - those sites have nice trees around them. The site had a picnic table and fire ring, and was pretty easy to back into. You can see beautiful mountains all around, and gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. This campground is walking distance to the Furnace creek visitors center, the golf course and the 19th hole bar and grill. On T-Mobile I had 3-5 bars of 3G (so basic text and email), and I heard my neighbors complain of being on Verizon roaming.   

It's important to note that the campsite does not have showers, and does not allow water on the ground at all - so you can't use your outside or solar shower. If you want a shower you need to buy a day pool pass at the Furnace Creek Ranch nearby ($14) or Stovepipe Wells ($5).  

I think that the best option if you will be in the area for a while is to book a spot here for one or two days, then move to Texas Springs nearby or the other first come / first served campsites, or boondock areas after you have done some exploring.

My brother and I stayed here in January 2022 and loved it! It was surprisingly chilly but the tent only loop was nice and peaceful with only a few other campers there. The restrooms (no showers) were clean and there’s a dish washing sink for camper to clean their dishes with. Camping was cheap (I can’t remember the exact amount but it wasn’t a lot). It was first come first serve though.

Each campsite has a fire pit and a picnic table. Sites are pretty level. There isn’t that much privacy which is to be expected since it is the desert. Either way, very nice campsite! I’d definitely come back