Looking for the best Channel Islands National Park RV camping? Finding a place to camp in California with your RV has never been easier. Each spot offers quick access to one or more of Channel Islands National Park's most popular destinations.
Treat the family to memorable camping on California's Central Coast at Sun Outdoors Santa Barbara, formerly Ocean Mesa RV Resort. Our fantastic resort is situated in Santa Barbara, where the Pacific Ocean and Ynez Mountains offer a spectacular setting and stunning backdrop for activities and adventure.
Choose your experience with a selection of spacious RV and tent sites. Enjoy fun amenities like a heated swimming pool and our amazing market that features camping gear, souvenirs, local wine, craft beer, and beach gear. Gather for seasonal outdoor movie nights on the market lawn. Or explore trails on docent-led hikes, take the kids to our llama and goat farm, and check out the events hosted at the El Capitan Canyon Market, located at El Capitan Canyon, our sister resort.
The only RV park located in the city of Santa Barbara. We offer convenient, comfortable RV sites and friendly, dependable service. Enjoy the hospitality of our small, family owned urban RV park while you explore Santa Barbara’s countless treasures and oodles of activities. Whether you call it an RV or a caravan, a vacation or a holiday, a park or a campground, we welcome you!
Ventura Beach RV Resort is located just off the 101 freeway in Ventura, California. The resort is a lush 14 acres and offers RV and tent sites ranging from standard to ultra deluxe sites. As well as travel trailer rentals, poolside yurts, and a summer studio. The resort has a refreshing heated swimming pool and inviting hot tub. A recreational room with billiard tables, a flat screen television, an ATM and vending machine. You can also enjoy our playground and half basketball court.
Bordered by the Los Padres National Forest and the Santa Ynez River, Rancho Oso RV Camping offers acres of beautiful scenery and endless opportunities for horseback riding, hiking, and photography. Explore 310 beautiful acres of our RV camp in California, filled with history dating back to 1845. Put on your boots and hats (spurs optional), come to our RV camp in coastal California, and experience the Western atmosphere of Rancho Oso from our RV camping sites.Have a horse? Board it with us & take advantage of our Western Village and horse camping options with spacious pasture, covered corrals and more.
Visit the Western Village, adobe, stables, conestoga wagons, cabins, stone lodge and all the unique amenities we have to offer at our RV camp in California. At Rancho Oso RV Resort, we encourage you to participate in the recreation events, entertainment, or sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery and wildlife native to our area. We are also just a scenic 30-minute drive from Santa Barbara or Solvang.
Earl Warren RV Park offers the convenience of RV parking in the heart of Santa Barbara. Our park is close to restaurants and blocks from the beach, only a few minutes drive from Downtown. Easily accessible off Highway 101.
$70 / night
UPDATE as of 10/10/20 Requires military ID and only open for Active Duty for camping at this current time. People can use the Day Use with proper identification
This scenic stretch of roadway offers outstanding views of the Pacific coastline and the Channel Islands. The Parkway is located between Faria Beach Park and Hobson Beach Park on Highway 1 off the Ventura Freeway.
$43 - $47 / night
Ranger
Faria Beach Park (also known as Pitas Point by surfers), is the perfect getaway for surfers and beach lovers alike. In the winter, large winter storms bring waves to Faria leading surfers to flock to its shore, and campgrounds. The campgrounds have RV hook ups, and offer the perfect view of the ocean. Campgrounds run $35-$39 and RV hooks up go for $50-$58. There is also a concession stand that offers food and refreshments, perfect for the picnic table. The campsite is well maintained but gets busy during the prime times of the year. Any groceries and supplies can be purchased at Ventura, a 15 minute drive away. For beach lovers, low tide at Faria offer tide pools and a stretch of sand to lay out on or run with the puppy. There are available restrooms, free outdoor showers, trash disposal area and fire pits available at select paid campsites. Faria Beach RV Park is the best camping opportunity to be on the beach, while enjoying the beauty of the Pacific Ocean!
Legend
Part of the Thousand Trails network. There is very clean bathrooms, room for RV'S, a rec center, store, pool, hot tub. There is a small creek and plenty of hiking trails.
GuideThis Campground belongs to the Thousand Trails network. We use it quite often as it is only 2 hours from our house. The campground is nice. There are wild turkeys that wander thru the campground and you will see an occassional deer or 2. Good & bad is that your wifi, cell service is very limited here. If you want to get away from that hectic "connected 24/7" life this is a place you can do it. If you need that constant connection you won't like it.
Guide
The Ventura Beach RV Resort is very nice and a short bike ride or walk from the beach or town. Stay away from the sites in the first row closest to the freeway as those tend to flood. If you're looking for a quiet campground this is likely too loud for you. If you're looking for interaction with other friendly campers then you will likely enjoy it.
Guide
This a a very nice campground nestled in the hills of Santa Barbara county. The sites for dry camping are the largest that I have every come across in 50 years. The full hookup sites are your standard size that you see at most rv parks. The lake is nice but is at an all time low water level because of the ongoing drought. The Danish town of Solvang is 12 miles away and there must be 50 places that you can go wine tasting in the area if that is your thing.
Traveler
Cool little county park with some full hook up spots. Nice level concrete pads. Non hook up spots are dirt with some general use water. Nice oak trees sprawling through the park. Great creek when flowing.
LegendIn looking for some places to camp near Santa Barbara when I was there for work, I explored all the listings which said “camping”. This like in many locations was a bit deceiving as camping means different things to different people.
Let me start off by saying this is a RV site only, not a tent site therefore it offered no services that applied to me as a tent camper. However like always I chose to explore the site anyway, because I do have friends in the traveling life who do have RVs.
This place targets the more long term campers. As Santa Barbara is vacation destination they encourage the person who is wanting to spend anywhere from a month or more and even do long term site leasing. It is basically a place you can rent a slot and have water, sewer and trash just like an apartment, but you are in charge of your own electric which is already run to each site as well as cable or internet.
The sites were nothing super exciting in appearance and didn’t offer much shade around the facility but they did have the pool which was a big bonus. It is relatively small so there is no way staying here you wouldn’t know your neighbors.
You are minutes from the beach which is a HUGE bonus of this site as well as access to the golf course and resorts so it is like resort living on a more realistic budget. I could see this being a great option for full timers for sure.
Again though, this place isn’t really for a short time stay for an RV and does not accommodate tents whatsoever.
TIPS:
GuideGood experience overall. There are many kinds of sites including full hook up, partial, primitive, cabins & yurts. Many sites have views of the lake.
Ranger
If you find yourself up near Santa Barbara, this luxury RV Resort and Campground is a real splurge. The grounds are beautiful, overlooking the ocean, and connecting to the El Capitan Canyon glamping resort, which offers yurts and safari tents. We enjoyed exploring the property's hiking trails and the heated pool was really nice.
If you don't feel like cooking, there's a really cute little deli and gift shop called Canyon Market that sells a nice selection of California wines, craft beers and BBQ kits for grill-your-own meals. Their breakfast burritos were really good, and they also serve tacos, burgers, sandwiches and salads throughout the day.
El Capitan State Beach is about a 20 minute walk away, so keep that in mind if you have a lot of beach gear.
My video:
Guide
The spots are just so small, especially the ones with full hook ups. You can park your car on the next loop over, but you will barely have enough space sit in your chair
ScoutWe stayed at Rancho Oso for two weeks. We chose it because it was near Santa Barbara. And it was affordable (with Thousand Trails). So near to Santa Barbara is a relative term. It’s a 35 minute drive on a lovely windey mountain road. Beautiful drive!!! The problem was the resort does not have wifi or Verizon cell service. So I had to commute daily, I work remotely. If you want remote this is good.
The other problem was ants. The 2nd day we came back and we were infested. We were able to move spots but what a hassle. We used all of our available poisons (windex, bug spray, rubbing alcohol) to kill or drown them. Then vacuumed for hours. It took two weeks before they were gone. The resort knew they had a problem but didn’t really help. So we recommend you be proactive and watch for them and maybe spray your perimeter occasionally.
So no wifi and cell service - on them. They need to fix this.
Ant infestations- they should spray.
Hot, dry, things closed because of Coronavirus and fire risk - not on them.
If you want remote, it’s good.
Guide
Stayed at site Fox 5 (full hook-ups) for 3 nights. Nice level concrete pad and fire pit. We didn’t have any immediate neighbors and it was very quiet and felt very remote at night time. Fox camp is perfect for our kids that like to be on their bicycles and explore. There is a park store right across the street (very pricey but convenient). We had a great time here and will most likely be back.
GuideLarge water district camping outside Ojai Ca. Full hook ups at most sites. $50 a night plus extra for tow vehicle. 8 areas to to choose from. Water park in summer, disc golf, fishing, boating, home of the ‘84 Olympic rowing competition. Gates close at 10 pm and had to park outside when I didn’t get back in time and walk in. Dirt and grass sites depending on where you choose. Many amenities
GuideWe were there in the middle of summer in the dumpster fire year of 2020. Make sure you get the correct weather report of ‘Cachuma Village’ and not assume it is the same climate as the much cooler Santa Barbara (15 degrees difference).
There are hundreds of campsites and many have RV hookups. I found the following YouTube video helpful when reserving a space. We were glad we picked a space that was under the canopy of two mature trees. https://youtu.be/sDWHOIo66F4
Although the lake looks beautiful, it is only a boating lake. There is no swimming nor paddle boarding allowed on the lake. There were plenty of fishing boats there as well as rentable pontoon boats.
There is not much of a hiking experience at the Lake except to walk around it. As we walked around, we loved seeing how other campers set up their camps since we’re relatively new campers.
We brought our dog and she loved it despite having little balls of thorns attach to her paws like magnets. (See picture). We ended up having to just carry her.
We’d love to go back again but next time we’ll make time to rent a boat and go fishing ON the lake.
TravelerNestled between Ventura and Santa Barbara just north of Los Angeles is this picture perfect State Beach campground. This location has both full hook-ups as well as tent camping right up to the coast This campsite also has showers availa le and restrooms There are plenty of miles of bike trails as well as hiking tails to the Bluffs that overlook a sea lion protected sanctuary But the most glorious reason to come here are the breath taking sunsets viewable from your own campsite
ScoutWe were referred to Lake Casitas by several people. We went for a four day three night camping trip in July '18. They have different camp sites depending on the needs of the campers, such as RV hookups and whatnot. We are relatively new at camping and were looking for a nice time to relax and enjoy nature. Our kids and our dogs really enjoyed it. We liked that the campsite was spacious and had lots of shade. There weren't many bug or flies, which was great. The park has a tiny water park. Cute and perfect for families with small children. My son is 11 and all he could do was the lazy river. The actual park was so big and it was filled to capacity. It was difficult to enjoy nature. There was people everywhere. Also, the weather was hot and dry, which created a lot of fine sand-like dirt lift when cars drove by. My teens loved being able to ride their bikes around. The water level in the river is so low it made me feel sad. The place has showers, but depending on your site, one might end up very far to walk. Restrooms were scarce, but in between they put potable toilets; not fun when it's nearly 100 degrees. The place is great if you enjoy meeting new people, hanging around the bonfire, and I heard it's good fishing. I did not like how packed it gets. It felt like I was in my back yard and too much noise pollution. Water park left much to be desired and wish there was swimming in the lake.
LegendThe lovely county run park in the hills above the Santa Barbara coastline, is a great campground offering a wide variety of camping experiences from full hook ups to grass covered spaces under the trees along the shores of this lovely reservoir. The sites offer the usual camp picnic table and fire ring, and the many group sites offer large grills and even a few picnic shelters.
The sunshine is typically abundant in this California park, and even without full hook ups you can easily get all the power you need with an appropriately sized solar panel system. We’ve run on solar for over 10 years, and it saves us thousands of dollars each year for our full-time camping life.
The flush bathrooms are clean and spacious. Water spigots were plentiful throughout the campground. The coin operated showers got the job done, but since we were there during a chilly March, things could have been warmer. But hey, everything important got clean…
The lake is perfect for boating, but since it’s a drinking water reservoir, there is no body contact with this body of water. So plan on using the campground pool to cool off during the summer months. Hiking and mountain biking trails are abundant throughout the area, and kayaking, canoeing, fishing or sailing on the lake is the perfect way to spend the afternoon.
The campground offers some excellent yurts and cabins for nightly rent right on the shores of the lake. These are often booked out so plan ahead.
The camp store offers enough grocery supplies in case you forgot something, including ice, snacks, fire wood, and gas. There is also a cool pub down by the boat ramp which offers live music in the weekends. The nearby tourist town of Solvang offers a great day trip to sample the amazing Dutch pastry treats, pick up some groceries, wine tasting, or a night out on the town.
Guide
Camp Comfort in Ojai - i didn't know what to expect but was pleased how amazing it is. A small campground with 16 full RV hookup sites and a camphost run by the county and decent priced. Rangers that check in with you and asks if they can help with anything, all easy, peasy, nice. The location is phenomenal - surrounded by hills that bask in a beautiful golden light before sunset, a creek runs along the edge making the area right in front of the hills like a tropical garden -green and lush. The birds are singing in a chorus and closer to sunset and at night it seems a thousand frogs are croaking. Amazing! There was a wedding in the park and a baby shower while we were here. I can see why they chose this park. Each site has water, sewer, electric, a fire ring and a bench/table. The sites are paved and flat but the surrounding area in the site is dirt so some had a tent up too. Each site is pretty spacious. There seem to be partial shade throughout. The adjacent park is full of beautiful trees and lush. The bathrooms were nice and clean as well as the laundry area. I didn't use their showers as we have our own in our trailer.
We biked into Ojai thru green lushness and beautiful silvery sheer like oak trees, a nature wonder. There are bike trails going all over Ojai and all the way to Ventura although from the campground into town uou are along a road that just is super lush. The foodin Ojai is really good. The architecture has a lot of mission remenants or replicas. It's quaint and fun! Hippie meets new chic sort of.
It's hot in the day though right now but cools at night and we left our trailer windows open all night. There were some flies and a few mosquitos probably due to that the creek is almost dry byt its still very lush here, almost tropical looking.
We will however be back in fall and spring and probably winter but summer might be a little hot for us. It was 90 or 92 in the day time during our visit and upper 40s /lower 50s at night.
GuideFirst: the bad… it was so windy and cold. Make sure you bring warm clothes!
The good: nice level site, full hookup, picnic table, trees.. (hookup sites don’t have fire pits) Biking/hiking trail was nice:) And can bike and walk around campground! It’s a very big place to explore:) Great disc golf course!! Free to play! The store has camping items, some food (overpriced but that’s expected) , souvenirs, gas… We wanted to get propane when checking out, but nobody in the store knew how to do it, so we were told to come back in 1.5 hours, but we were leaving. It was too windy and cold to fish, which is why we went there:( check the forecast and any wind advisories!! Great restaurant, lots of space to explore. No human contact with the water. Don’t expect to swim.
RangerWe selected our campsite based on the map and online photos. We couldn’t have been more pleased with the location we chose!! Our space was F -11 and after driving through all of the campgrounds, and there are many, we felt that the Fox site was best suited for us. So much so that when we return we will definitely pick another site in Fox.
There is a small market should you forget anything and need it while on your getaway. It is stocked with practically anything you can think of!
Beware! There are ground squirrels in abundance everywhere here and they live without fear of humans! We watched them approach as we sat right near the truck and they hopped up into the engine compartment. Luckily as far as we can tell, they didn’t do any damage.
Our space had basic hook ups - there are two dump stations on site. There’s a big cost differential compared to a full hook up site - if that’s any concern. ;-)
Great place for a peaceful getaway!
ScoutCool place close to a small river. Includes a couple of large fields and playgrounds, large BBQ areas, and even an aviary. The only quam would be that though there are about ten designated rv spots with hookups they advertise the majority of their spots as rv/tents. The issue is that most rvs should definitely not attempt parking in these spots.
Guide
We recently stayed here, for the 1st time, last week. We decided to leave the travel trailer at home, and change it up! We stayed the 1st in a large teepee. It had beds for a total of six people. It was hot in the daytime, and got really cold at night, so we switched to a Glamping tent. The Glamping tent was nice! It had a very confortable queen bed, 2 lamps, a fan, a heater, a mini fridge and a microwave. It also had a futon type couch that made into a bed. Loved the Glamping tent.
Only downfall was, that the place does not enforce it quiet time rules. 10pm to 8 am. Late night loud groups, carrying on until 2 in the morning, loud obnoxious kids screaming at 6:15 in the morning...😩they have many beautiful Peafowl, and they can be loud too, but I only heard them once. The place has very nice tiled showers, with good water pressure, clean bathrooms, a big beautiful pool, but it was closed for the season.
There are fire pits throughout the 76 acre park, it was nice having a campfire, since so many places don’t allow them anymore...they have a very large jumping pillow for kiddos, my 6 year had a blast playing on it. They also have a zip line, but it was damaged in the large fire last year, and is being fixed currently. There is a stream that runs thru the property, it was fun to explore. They have a rock climbing wall, that is brought out on holiday weekends.
Lots of fun activities for kids, like crafts, making your own rocket to launch, etc. It is not the place to come, if you want a quiet, mellow place to read a book! It is busy, and loud. They do not have any laundry facilities, nor do they have a little store. The prices on everything are going up 10% on everything, next year. This means that most campsites with full hook-ups with be $ 71 a night, ( not bad ) but the large teepees will cost about $ 200 a night, and the Glamping tents, about $ 180 a night.
You can buy a KOA discount card, for just $ 30 bucks, and it gets you 10% off, each stay for a year. Valid at all KOAs in America, and some in Australia! We had a good time, and plan to go back in the summer next year. Hopefully, with our travel trailer, it will be less loud 😉
GuideCasitas Lake near Ojai in Ventura County has something for everyone, especially parents with children off from school in the summertime. The campgrounds are spacious and clean and there are at least six different types from basic tent on dirt all the way up to executive motorhome with all hook ups. Prices vary from 35 to 55$ for tents on dirt to 65-75$ for RVs with hook ups.There is also a charge for a vehicle, boat, pet, etc. The highlight for families though is the waterpark. Open during the summer, it’s perfect for the younger kids when it’s hot.Always check current Covid restrictions as most water parks are closed.
TravelerWe were on the way to the KOA across the creek, and saw this place. You can reserve and pay online, but they charged $8 transaction fee. No cash/checks accepted. Quiet overnight, but the road is right there for the am traffic. Level spots, paved, full hookups avail. Quirky aviary on the park.
Legend
Just a simple RV park outside of the campgrounds! I was happy to stay here in my van while in town to work. Great hot showers and quiet. Shore power plug in. No water at my site and never found a place to dump out. Great access to highway, arroyo burro dog beach and groceries!
LegendCarpinteria State Beach Campground is a one of our frequently visited “staycation” spots. We live in nearby Santa Barbara, but will use Carp State Beach as a midway meeting point when friends from Southern California and Central California meet up.
The campground is pretty large, and caters mostly to RVs and trailers. There are loops within the campground that are essentially just asphalt lots with small dirt spaces for fire pits and picnic benches - these are intended for RV campers, but we have tent camped there in a pinch. Since we are tent campers we do prefer to camp in the grassy tent sites, but they are limited in number and tend fill up quickly. Because of the moderate year-round weather, Carpinteria State Beach Campground stays pretty full all year long!
The campground has full hook ups, clean plumed bathrooms, and coin-operated showers. There are grocery stores and conscience stores within short walking distance for anything you might need. Train tracks run directly behind the campground, so there is some noise pollution from the passing trains.
The campground is at the very end of downtown Carpinteria, right next to the ocean. There are no “ocean front” sites, but the beach is a quick 1-minute walk from essentially anywhere in the campground. Some small sandy dunes separate the campground from the beach, and there is an accessible paved boardwalk running along the length of the dunes. There are beautiful tide pools just south of Carpinteria State Beach Campground that are a must see. Check the tide charts on the internet to visit the tide pools at low to mid tide.
While we really enjoy camp cooking, we tend to opt to walk into town to eat when camping in Carpinteria. Linden Avenue is right next to the campground, and is the main street in downtown Carpinteria. There is a wide variety of restaurants, breweries and coffee shops downtown. Island Brewery CO is a local favorite just on the edge of the campground - while I don’t think they have food available (yet), their beer is GREAT! Their avocado beer is a must try - I know it sounds weird, but it’s delicious (and doesn’t taste like avocados)! Rincon Brewery is a few blocks up from the campground, and also has great beer, and TASTY FOOD!
CAMPSITE SPECS
Fees: $45/night (normal campsite)
Plumbed Toilets: Yes
Drinking Water: Yes
Showers: Yes (coin-operated)
Picnic Table: Yes
Firepit: Yes
Cooking Grate: Yes
Shade: No
Cell Service: Yes
Animal Bins/Food lockers: No
Trash: Yes
Guide
We stayed in site 86 for 3 nights. It was a huge site (most in this loop were) with great trees for a hammock, our dogs line, and tent. Because of all the trees it’s shaded for most of the day. 84 and 85 got sun the whole day with great views of the ocean but are more public. Our tent area had light after 5 pm until dark. Quick drive into SB for supplies or surf. The campsite point has a fun right, very rocky. We made dinner on the point one night. Hot showers, quiet campers, mostly families. Refugio just up the road is a packed RV parking lot. No good
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