# Santa Barbara Area Campgrounds



## Excursions R Us (Jan 25, 2006)

Looking for a campground around Santa Barbara to use as a base for travelling up the coast and going into LA.


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## folsom_five (Jan 10, 2008)

Santa Barbara is a beautiful place to visit. I can't recommend any campgrounds in Santa Barbara (never camped there), but just south a bit is El Capitan State Beach and Carpenteria State Beach. I have only tent-camped at both of those beaches (pre trailer days), but have friends that have taken their TTs there and enjoyed it.
If you are looking for a place to be a base to go into LA, then Santa Barbara is going to be quite the drive. If you have the time, maybe find a place closer to LA to use as a base while exploring LA, then find a place in Santa Barbara (or north of there) to explore the central coast areas. Hopefully someone that lives in the Central Coast area has some better recomendations.

--Greg


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## raynardo (Jun 8, 2007)

Excursions R Us said:


> Looking for a campground around Santa Barbara to use as a base for traveling up the coast and going into LA.


My all-time favorite is Lake Cachuma - run by the county of Santa Barbara, which means no reservations, just first come first served. It's beautiful - rent a boat, relax, fish, and/or watch the wildlife. You'll be close to Santa Barbara, Solvang (the recreated Danish community), Los Olivos (Michael Jackson's adopted home town), Guadalupe (and the sand dunes), and more wineries than you can shake a stick at.

And don't miss Cold Spring Tavern - it's like dropping into a small area that's 150 years old, great food - within seven miles of the lake.


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## Excursions R Us (Jan 25, 2006)

raynardo said:


> Looking for a campground around Santa Barbara to use as a base for traveling up the coast and going into LA.


My all-time favorite is Lake Cachuma - run by the county of Santa Barbara, which means no reservations, just first come first served. It's beautiful - rent a boat, relax, fish, and/or watch the wildlife. You'll be close to Santa Barbara, Solvang (the recreated Danish community), Los Olivos (Michael Jackson's adopted home town), Guadalupe (and the sand dunes), and more wineries than you can shake a stick at.

And don't miss Cold Spring Tavern - it's like dropping into a small area that's 150 years old, great food - within seven miles of the lake.
[/quote]
Thanks for all the tips. I had found Cachuma Lake and noticed it was first come first serve. Any idea on availability for the last week of July--are sites usually filled for the whole summer?


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

We too are planning a trip visiting San Francisco. We heard good things about San Francisco RV Resort and have booked our stay there. It's about the closest, decent place to stay if SF is your destination. Beware the Candlestick RV campground that is in town. It's surrounded by ghetto and all the glory that goes with it.

Los Angeles will be about a 2 hour drive south if you want to go there from the SF area.


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## Beerman (Nov 14, 2005)

My family have stayed at Ventura Beach RV resort and liked it. Yes you will get some noise from the highway but not bad. It is within a great 25 minute drive to Santa Barbara and 1.5 from L.A.. Check there website out. I would recomend the south side of the park. You can google earth the place and see that you will have much more grass and space to stretch out. The sites are roomy as well. Clean shower and restrooms.

Beerman


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

Cachuma Lake is a very large campground with something like 500 sites total. There's a hundred something full-hookup, then another area with partials, and finally, the bulk is tent sites. The place loads up fast on Fridays and empties out on Sunday and Monday. The only time we've been there when it was completely full was on Thanksgiving weekend. Being that it's a County campground, we've found that the hookup spots tend to be quieter and more civilized than the tent spots, especially on the weekends. You get a lot of partiers in those areas, and the rangers frequently have to call the police to have them removed.

Other than that, it's a nice place for fishing and boating, but you can't go in the water. The pool will be open in summer and there's three playgrounds. You can also walk the trails, ride bikes, and visit the nature center. There's a general store and even a gas station right there!


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## MJRey (Jan 21, 2005)

We really like Refugio and El Capitan State Beaches. They are about 10 miles north of Santa Barbara and are nice beach camping. It's dry camping with no hookups but most of the sites are nice. Carpinteria is okay but I thought it felt a bit crowded and cramped. The Ventura beach site is okay too and it's got full hookups. There is a nice place in Buelton, Flying Flags , and it's close to Solvang and right off of the 101.


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