Best Cabin Camping near Arroyo Grande, CA

Flying Flags RV Resort& Campground is one of my favorite RV resorts.  It is located in Buellton, CA very near the historic town of Solvang, as well as Lake Cachuma and Los Padres National Forest. The campsite is in a beautiful setting surrounded by green rolling hills. April, May is the perfect time to visit. 

The resort features a plethora of housing options, including vintage trailers and airstreams, cottages, luxury tents, and RV/tent camping spots. 

Free WiFi, a full laundry facility, pools, and a hot tub, every aspect of your stay is covered. For a relaxing time, they have poolside cabanas, a communal fire pit, picnic areas, and a communal TV lounge with pool and foosball tables. 

If you have children there is a playground as well as bocce and horseshoes. There is a full fitness center in case you want to get your workout in without the heat. All of the amenities are very well maintained, including the bathrooms and showers. When you get hungry the campground/resort has a few options. 

There is a full fitness center in case you want to get your workout in without the heat. I rode my bicycle to Solvang, which is 4 miles away. All of the amenities are very well maintained, including the bathrooms and showers. When you get hungry the campground/resort has a few options. There is a convenience store and snack bar on-site, as well as the Campfire Cafe, an eatery with a full menu that allows you to eat in or even deliver to your site.

In case you are feeling like an adult beverage, Flying Flags has a fairly extensive wine and beer bar. There are also restaurants, convenience, and grocery stores within walking distance. The location of Flying Flags is perfect if you are looking to venture out for an evening or you are here for the wineries. 

There are several museums in the area, including the Solvang vintage motorcycle museum. There are also golf courses, breweries, wineries, a casino/resort, and the Solvang farmers market. This resort and campground overall is a very nice spot to stop on a long journey, or just to get away for a while. 

Well worth the trip. It seems like the RVs in the RV park are newer, the park is pretty upscale. I would assume most of the people are full-timers, retired couples who are spending some time in the park. Although it was beautiful weather, you hardly see people outside, it seems like everyone is keeping to themselves. I am not sure why that is.

I spent the weekend at the bandtail campground at the Lopez Lake Recreation Area.

The lake is about 10 miles East of Arroyo Grande. The campground is well maintained and patrolled by rangers often. 

The views that can been seen from the campsites are incredible. Take a look at the photos. 

THINGS TO KNOW

You can make reservations online and you can reserve a spcific site. They have sites ranging from primitive to full hookups. 

Check-in is at 2 pm, but they normally will let people in earlier, checkout is at 11 am. 

The cost is $20.00 a night. This includes one vehicle per site, you can pay an extra $10 a night for an additional vehicle.

Dogs are allowed in the campground, but they must be on a leash at all times. Dogs cost $3.50 a day.

There a launch ramp and marina store in the campground .

There are multiple trails throughout the park that range in their level of difficulty.

Lopez Lake Recreation Area is 15 minutes behind the “Village” of Arroyo Grande, CA.

Lopez is a frequently visited spot for us - We generally camp in a primitive site the back of the Squirrel Loop of the park. The Squirrel Loop is not a lakeside loop (you cannot see the lake at all from here), but we have found it to be one of the quieter, less trafficked campground in the park. The Squirrel Loop is nestled inside a canyon, surrounded by big, beautiful live oak trees.

Lopez Lake is a very large campground with many different loops, so many of which are nearby the lake. If you haven’t been to the campground before and are not worried about reserving a site ahead of time, take some time to drive around the park when you arrive to see what area you would most like to camp in - there are a lot of great spots here there and everywhere!

Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring. There are clean plumbed bathrooms, and coin-operated showers. Lopez has full hook-ups for RVs, and a marina to launch boats. There is a small but well-stocked convenience store in the marina with food, ice, firewood, beer, fishing gear, etc. There is also a small cafe located in the marina store, with limited hours.

Lopez Lake is the home of the Mustang Waterpark, a small, but super fun water park. I believe the park is closed during the fall and winter months, but is open during the spring and summer. Swimming is allowed in the lake, and there are some “beach” areas that have been cleared of lake plants and rocks for safe swimming.

Hiking to Big Falls is a fun adventure if you want to leave the campground. There are certain times when the falls are not accessible without 4WD, however, we have been in severe drought conditions in Central California for the last few years, so you don’t have to worry about crossing any deep creeks, if any. A super low clearance vehicle may have a challenging time crossing the creek beds, even when dry. The drive to Big Falls trailhead from Lopez is short, but probably takes 15-20 minutes as you are driving through a curvy, narrow canyon road. The hike is through live oak trees most of the way, so most of the hike is nice and shaded. Keep and eye out for salamanders when crossing the creek beds! While it is unlikely, black bears mountain lions have been spotted on the Big Falls trail, so be aware of your surroundings. Here are directions to the Big Falls trailhead: http://www.hikeslo.com/big-falls/

WARNING : While the possibility of a black bear sighting is fairly uncommon, black bears are seen every year at Lopez Lake. You are in black bear county, and there are no bear boxes/ food lockers at Lopez Lake. I would suggest locking your food and coolers up in the car at night to avoid attracting wild animals to your campsite.

CAMPSITE SPECS

Fees: $35/night (primitive site)

Plumbed Toilets: Yes

Drinking Water: Yes

Showers: Yes (coin-operated)

Picnic Table: Yes

Firepit: Yes

Cooking Grate: Yes

Shade: Yes

Cell Service: No

Animal Bins/Food lockers: No

Trash: Yes

RV hookups , pool , huge jumping pad for kids about a mile walk to the lake . They have yurts for tent & cabins.

Stayed here in a cabin for 2 yrs because of work in area. Quiet, clean and away from the city. Love this place.

Nice place and clean place, but not really a campground as it much as it’s an rv park with cabins. Not much nature. Use to go years ago when they had tent camping. Miss those days. Some good hikes down to the river bed and bike/ running trails

Cool spot to explore, it’s an event ground space with cabins, pool, showers, trails, nice views, and a beautiful place to explore. I called around 4pm and was there for 1 night on a Thursday and it seemed like I was the only one there. Amanda was super sweet and got back to me immediately.

Easter weekend visit. Staff was awesome. The cabin was exactly what we needed for a low impact weekend of camping. Proximity to the lake was great. We had so much fun out on the water doing some fishing. The highlight for my kids was the Easter egg hunt put on by the staff. A happy surprise for sure. We will be going back!

More than likely the beachfront sites will be booked, but be sure to call the ranher station just before for last-minute availability. Gorgeous spots with fire pits and picnic tables on the sand, just before a private beach accessible via the e0 minute, winding dead-end road. Facilities, a playground, tiered campspots and cabins, and a store all sit serenely at this quiet spot.

This RV park is actually a resort in itself as it has three swimming pools, a large soccer field, basketball hoops, bocce ball courts, water splash area for kids, etc. it also has a small outdoor restaurant that serves pizza and chicken wings and a full-service General store. Lots of stylized cabins are also available. Only about 3 miles from Solvang. The only negative is it can be quite expensive but I guess supply and demand takes care of that. 

Such an awesome unique space! Looks to be an old summer camp that is recently acquired to be a campground/outdoor event space. Amanda, the owner, is extremely sweet and accommodating. There is hookups for rigs, I saw two vans and a smaller/mid-sized SUV. They also have small private cabins to rent as well. We paid $35 for boondock camping and slept on the ridge overlooking two valleys. Half the price of pismo and Oceano, and half of the dismissive, gnarly attitudes. For what it is, it’s a little patch of heaven. Worth checking it out!

Last minute booking for us as all of the surrounding parks were fully booked. We got site “W.” Stayed for one night. This spot seems to mostly cater to tent and cabin campers... had to use 4 blocks to level our tailer, the site was full of trash and dog poop too.

One thing that is awesome is that there is a bike path (5 miles ish round trip) that leads to the beach. The path is along a creek, surrounded by trees, and goes through a golf course. It is relatively flat and our 7yr old had a blast.

One of my all time favorites - started camping there in the 4th grade... cough cough 35 years ago... still one of my favorites... can be a bit windy but the sunsets, walking the cliff lined beach, watching the surfers at Tarantula's - taking a Harley ride there for the day is amazing... burger and fries are crazy good... my friends and I have actually gone up camped and only bought food from the burger stand... 100% worth it. Not a fan of the cabins on the hill side but I guess if you are into glamping it's ok.

If your directions take you somewhere before the beach just keep going until you’re there. The food at the small store/cafe is amazing. I’m in site 16 and was scared I wouldn’t have a view. Wow was I wrong, this site is what I would say is the best. Back in the corner looking down in it all!!! The spots I the middle are great but close, and close to the playground. If available I would have chosen a spot up above the cabins or on the lower loop right up against the ocean.

I love the few trains that came through & to top it all off there was a LAUNCH at Vandenburg. Top notch experience, my mother also tells me my grandparents frequented here often :)

I have been camping here since 1975!
Jalama is a gem and for us old timers, watching it get popular was hard to take!
This campground has beach front, a middle section and upper tears with some electric. It has two group sites and also cabins & trailers to rent. The store serves famous Jalama burgers and has supplies if needed! It also sells Jalama shirts, some have art on them from my friend Alan!
The beach is very big and beautiful. Sunsets are beautiful! Be prepared for winds as this campground can blow at times and it’s no joke when the Jalama winds kick up!
There are pay hot showers and a dump station for RV’s.
It has a horse shoe pit, playground and plenty of areas along the river and on the beach to explore!
There is no cell service but there is wi-fi and a pay phone. Bring a prepaid phone card if you need the phone.
I love Jalama!

My family used to visit this campground for its easy accessibility for younger children. Deciduous trees and leafy ground cover make for a comfortable experience. Canoeing and kayak rentals available, beware of spiders!

General: Variety of sites from basic camping to those with electric hookups. Some are considered premium beachfront sites and cabins. Prices are also adjusted seasonally. 

Site Quality: Some sites are concrete; some are on sand. Our site was close to the beach, however, the view of the ocean was blocked by dunes (and also by a restroom). Our site also easily accommodated two camper vans. Each site had a large picnic table and fire ring, although the picnic table was a bit warped. 

Bath/Shower: The closest restroom to our site was very basic – one toilet each for men and women with a shared sink on the outside. Showers are in a separate building and are $ 1.00 for three minutes. 

Activities: The beach here is ruggedly beautiful and you can walk quite a distance if you go to the left; to the right, there is a lot of driftwood but is still somewhat walkable. There is also a store/small restaurant on-site.

We were supposed to spend two nights here but after a very stormy night, we had to evacuate as the only road in/out was unstable, but we would definitely return. If we were unable to reserve a premium beach site, we would choose a site at the top level. Although these are furthest from the beach, they provide the best view of the ocean.

This small hot springs resort has a unique charm about it. With not a lot of acreage, they maximize the space for sure. The main attraction is the warm pool, 25 yards with swimming lanes, and the hot pool which can accommodate 30 people. We found this rustic resort a good place to spend the night and get in a quick soak, but not exactly someplace we’d like to spend a weekend. 

The RV lot is a large parking lot with spaces allocated on the outside of the gravel road. The tent camping section was a narrow patch of grass, with sites slotted in together along a tight corner of the property. Get to know your neighbors, because you’ll be close! Our little camper and truck rig was just small enough to fit into one of the grass camping sites at 32 feet combined, but it was a tight fit.  We were easily able to run on solar instead of paying for an electrical site.

There's a picnic table and fire ring at each site, but the sites are so small, you are practically on top of your neighbors with zero privacy.  There are pit toilets in the campground as well as flush toilets and showers available near the bath house.  They also offer cabins for rent.

The town of Avila Beach has restaurants and a few convenience stores, but the larger grocery stores are available in nearby Pismo Beach.  Morro Bay is definitely worth a visit as well!