Foster Residence Campground

This is a small Ventura County campground close to Ojai. We stayed in #9, which is in an odd spot right in the middle of the tight loop. If we’d had our awning out I think bigger vehicles would have knocked into it as they made the loop around us, and the loop is so tight that you can’t really do it without backing up and repositioning yourself. I’m surprised there’s no length limit for this campground, not because of the size of the spots, but because of the small loop. #9 is also unlevel and our blocks weren’t enough to fix it. Sites 1 and 2 are off by themselves on the other side of the campground, so it would be a good setup for a group of friends but too awkwardly close to each other otherwise. 

The dry camping/ tent sites are off on the other end, and though we usually prefer these sites to full hookup sites, I don’t think they’d work for an RV. The spots are small, all dirt, all in a row, and parking would be awkward. #14 is kind of a walk-up situation, where you park along the road and set up camp down by the creek. 

There’s no dump station here. There are garbage and mixed recycling dumpsters. Host on site. No onsite payment, you have to reserve online. We paid $42/night for a full hookup site, plus a $10 reservation fee, plus $2.50 per pet per night. 

Good Verizon service but ATT was usable but pretty weak.

We stayed here in June as part of a 3 week camping trip. Foster Residence was the closest to a city that we've stayed in, and that was apparent during the stay (i.e. we had 2 fuel canisters stolen, odd people obviously tweeking coming in the middle of the night and screaming obscenities the next morning, a couple families setting up next to us for the weekend for late night partying, lots of road traffic, etc.).

There are some reviews for this campground under Foster Park Campground. That is a separate campground right next to this one separated by a little nature trail. The same camp host manages both. Foster Park CG is RIGHT next to the road. But it does have a swing set with like one swing if that sways you. Foster Residence is otherwise the better choice. 

The tent sites are further back into the trees and there is a lot of shade. When we pulled in, there was an oak branch down on top of our fire pit and picnic table. We tried to get the host, but he was unavailable. The next morning he stopped by and said he'd get maintance. I told him they can leave the wood next to the fire pit and we could burn some of it, and that's what we did. That came in handy because there were tons of biting flies. The smoke helped to control them while we were at the campsite. And on the subject of little flying things, there are also a lot of wasps in the area that LOVE meat. So if you are going to try to cook meat, just be aware that they will consider it theirs lol. 

The bathroom is separated into male and female and the female has 2 toilet stalls with flushing toilets and stall doors that work and lock. Also a sink with running water, coconut-smelling hand soap, and hand dryers with warm air. I'm assuming the mens is similar.

The tent sites do not have electricity (normal for a tent site). We stayed for 6 nights and on the last morning we received a notice from a "park ranger" that privacy tents are not allowed due to sanitary concerns? That's like national park-level control-freakness there. There IS full cell service at site 14 and other random places in the campground area. There are no showers, no store, and there is plenty of potable water.

Overall, it was nice being able to tent camp so close to the beach (the reason we came to the area was for my son to take surf lessons... we live in the Midwest) and also not be IN the city. But the area was definitely not my kinda bag. Still, if I had to go back to the area, I'd probably stay again.