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.
