Cachuma Lake Recreation Area
Reviewed Sep. 27, 2021

Great view but felt unsafe

We camped here the Thursday before Labor Day weekend. It was empty! Out of 400 sites there were about a dozen campers here.

When we first arrived to our lake site (453) there was a car in our spot and two guys were sitting at our picnic bench. They quickly left once they saw us pull in. It was very weird because they obviously weren’t campers. Once they left we started setting up camp but it was pretty difficult with the amount of wind so make sure to bring heavy duty stakes if tent camping here. The ground is extremely hard and rocky.

The views are amazing though and site 453 is right on the lake. Although we were one of the only campers around there was an rv setup close by so we felt better until some random guys decided to have tea or something directly next to our site. They pulled up in a car and parked in the site next to us but didn’t setup anything except a little stove and kept all of the lights off and cooked in complete darkness which was very weird and strange. After about an hour of this they got in their car and left.

We felt very unsafe at this point knowing that anyone could come into the campground even though they weren’t campers. It was getting really cold and the wind was still pretty strong so we decided to head in for the night. As soon as we laid down inside the tent the rv nearby decided to turn on their generator at 9pm! It ran until 1am when it finally ran out of gas. It kept us up all night and there wasn’t anything we could do. We tried calling the park number which no one answered. There was no patrolling at all of the campground had no camp host. We were completely on our own and just had to deal with the rude neighbors.

I would not recommend this campground if you are tent camping with a family due to these issues above.

SiteSite 453
Month of VisitAugust
  • Review photo of Cachuma Lake Recreation Area by Ariana F., September 27, 2021
  • Review photo of Cachuma Lake Recreation Area by Ariana F., September 27, 2021
  • Review photo of Cachuma Lake Recreation Area by Ariana F., September 27, 2021
  • Review photo of Cachuma Lake Recreation Area by Ariana F., September 27, 2021
  • Review photo of Cachuma Lake Recreation Area by Ariana F., September 27, 2021
  • Review photo of Cachuma Lake Recreation Area by Ariana F., September 27, 2021