Best RV Parks & Resorts near Darwin, CA

Came here after "visiting" the other so called RV park in this area. This is a nice place and we were greeted by the friendly maintenance guy as soon as we pulled in. 

For overnighters there is a separate area from the long term residents with level pull through sites and full hook ups (20, 30 and 50amp) for $30/night.  One of us felt that being secluded away from the main park gave the overnighters area a spooky lonely vibe at night (the other of us didn't feel that way and felt fine).

There is also a self pay drop box (if you need to pay with credit card or want a receipt pay at the office) right outside the fenced overnighter area which also has an easily accessed dump station and potable water for $10 fee if you just need to dump and fill.

The friendly maintenance guy came around to make sure we had everything we needed after we set up. This is right off of Hwy 178 so there is road noise but it quieted down at night. The area is clean and there are dumpsters available as well as a laundry room which is inside the residential area. Laundry was $1.75/wash and $1 for dryer. This park is a good place to stay the night or for a chore day while traveling through.

Good cell service with AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, unsure if park has WiFi available.

There's also an RV parts store next door which we did not check out.

Overall a nice clean place, nothing fancy or beautiful but a good place to clean up before heading back into boondocking.

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.

Along Hwy 178 towards Ridgecrest you'll find this campground that is small but quiet and clean. It is not for big rigs or RVs. 

There are 2 sites with fire pits and covered picnic tables that could fit a large van at most. There is one other spot that is level but has no fire pit or covered table. Further back are several scattered picnic tables and tent spots. There are also 2 unisex ADA accessible pit toilet bathrooms which were quite filthy.

This is a stop along the Pacific Crest Trail. The scenery is an amazing mix of Joshua Trees, pines, chaparral, mountains and large rocks, some snow on the peaks facing north. It is close to the highway so there is some road noise and people stopping to use the bathroom. The road in is paved and narrow and potholed but passable.

There was no cell service with AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile.

There is a donation based drop box for camping fee so pay what you want or what you can afford.

Fires and charcoal grills are not allowed per sign at info board, camp stoves are ok.

Came here for four days without reservations for Furnace Creek.  This campground is a no frills flat parking lot with bathrooms and dish washing stations, trash dumpsters, and a decent dump and water filling station.  If you are self contained or even in a tent, it is doable.  However, no trees, lots of neighbors with generators.  I give it three stars for:  with the Senior Access Pass, $7.  The dump station/water filling was clean and easy, and the location cannot be beat (except by the Furnace Creek CG which I would always prefer to stay in, if we make reservations way in advance).  Texas Springs up the road is a good more traditional camping facility, no reservations, but smaller rigs and tents are the norm there.  You could fit our 35 foot fifth wheel up there in some of the sites if you are lucky.  Cell service, as in most National Parks is iffy at best, for a fee you can get Wifi across the road at the Ranch/Oasis.  There is golfing and restaurants and a small grocery store.  Location of this campground is right across from the Furnace Creek Visitors Center.  Easy walking, biking and hanging out.

Texas Springs upper loop is for RV's and Vans, but no generators allowed. So it's lovely and quiet at night. If you want to run your generator you need to go to Sunset Campground closer to the road. Texas Springs lower loop is for tents only (though some tent campers moved up to the upper loop).

We moved to Texas Springs upper loop from Furnace Creek. It is first come / first served with checkout at noon. So if you find a site without a tag before noon, you can claim it. But if you are there before noon and there is a tag in place for that day (and there are no "place holders" like chairs or items on the picnic table) the ranger will not let you claim it until noon. We were there over a holiday weekend (Presidents day on Monday) we got in on Thursday morning and it was wide open with many choices, by the time we left on Sunday there were people asking if they could call "dibs" on your site when you left. I would suggest coming in Sunday - Thursday on a regular week.   

Most sites in the middle and to the right as you come in are pull through, but the left row is all back in. If you get a choice, pick a site at the top or bottom of a row for better views. Our neighbors were all very relaxed and friendly.  There is NO shade. It was a bit too windy to put up our pop-up, but we just stayed in the shade of our tiny trailer.  

    
The bathrooms were clean and pleasant, the water troughs for dishwashing etc were next to the bathrooms, and there were water spigots in each row as well. There are no showers and grey water on the ground is forbidden, so no solar or outside showers. If you want a shower you can get a day pool pass and access to the showers at Furnace Creek Ranch ($14) or Stovepipe Wells ($5).  

My cel provider is T-Mobile and I had full bars, but it was 3G! I heard neighbors on Verizon complain about being on roaming. We had no signal on our Visible phone. 
We saw a lot of coyotes - keep your little dogs close!

This campground was quiet and clean and centrally located in the park. No hookups, but there is a dump station with potable water available near the entrance.

The spaces are REALLY close together but when we were there the park was mostly empty…maybe a dozen other campers in the whole park. Tent camping only on the lower loop…upper loop had MANY large, pull through spaces. Our camper is small, so the space felt big though. Picnic tables and fire pits at each site. Self serve pay stations, discount for Access Pass holders, I will definitely stay here again if I come through Death Valley again.

It’s been said before, but I’ll say it again–“all of the campgrounds in the valley are glorified parking lots, some more obviously than others.”  Fiddler’s Campground is one of the more lot-like, but there is shade with a row of trees on the south side of the camping lot. The campsite is closer to the National Park Visitor’s Center than even the Park’s campground, Furnace Creek.  While it's a very utilitarian campground, it's a good central location to explore the park from Golden Canyon to Zabriski Point to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes to Badwater Basin.

It is run by the Oasis Ranch at Death Valley Resort, so you have access to all of the services provided there including the lovely golf course, pool, showers and reliable wifi. During our two visits to DVNP, we’ve spent at least one night here just to grab a shower, swim, and wifi update. While these sites are usually booked months in advance, you can find an occasional open night during the mid-week. 

The campground bathrooms have clean flush toilets and hand washing sinks, and a dishwashing sink with good tasting potable water just outside of the bathrooms. The bathrooms by the campsites were pretty clean, but the pool was very clean as was the shower/ locker rooms. 

The campsites are stacked pretty tightly together but there’s plenty of room for big rigs. Unlike Texas Springs campground up the hill, Fiddler’s Campground allows gas generators. There’s no need with all of the sunshine, an appropriately sized solar panel system will provide you with all the power you need. We’ve run for over a decade on solar panels and saves a ton of money on campgrounds. 

The resort also offers a few restaurants, gift shops and a small grocery store with enough options to feed yourself in case you didn’t bring much food. We highly recommend the milkshakes at the ice cream shop, they are expensive but worth the drive to the valley alone! 

Mobile service was pretty spotty, we had Verizon which seemed to have a good signal in the morning until more people woke up and then everything slowed down. Service throughout the park was pretty spotty too.