Best Campgrounds near Lompoc, CA

Stayed here many times. Love it

This campground is quiet and spaces aren't too close together. East walk to trails and the beach at the cove.

Oceano CA. Wooded nice spaces with 20 amp electric and water. We tried to reserve online but site said they were full and sign at entrance said they were full. We waited at check in gate at 2pm (check in time) for about 10 minutes. Staff came by in a car and registered us from their car! Strange but we were grateful. Many available spaces! Go figure.

We needed an overnight in Santa Barbara and chose this convenient location. Yes, there is highway noise but it is like white noise to me. The spots are tight but this is a city (and expensive one at that). Plenty of room to park our van and our daughter’s Jeep. Bathrooms are clean. This is not national park camping, so adjust your expectations and you’ll have a great stay! Walking distance to a beach and on a city bus route.

This place is 10/10. Clean bathrooms, quiet and quaint. Close to one of the most beautiful beaches. The campsites in the way back are the best..much quieter.

This place really came in handy on our way north. Two notes! The entrance and exit are build for traffic going south, so you have to be comfortable doing a freeway u-turn if you're going north. Not a big deal, and there are lanes that are built for it, but those were my first two ever freeway u-turns. Also: I bet it's quieter if you park with the large "berm" between your car and the freeway. We didn't, and I heard the traffic noise all night long. Beautiful view in the morning.

Lots of space for campers and tents. Nice, CLEAN, showers and restrooms. Staying here gives free access to driving onto the beach.

Lots of families and dogs. Noise wasn't a problem other than generators constantly running.

This was my first time camping independently, so didn't know what to expect. Everyone was really nice, camp host, camp ranger, etc. A lot of good amenities and very close to the beach. Loved my site specifically as well, especially since walking down noticing others didn't have as much space, shade, etc. Will say this is a really good rv place, did not see a lot of tent campers. They also sell fire wood for $10 so be ready with cash!

Easy enough to find for a night’s stop.

Place with beautiful ocean view, a lot of space on each campsite. One star less due to Very worn sanitary facilities…… but still working :-) Very crowded on weekends

Large sites with fire rings, picnic tables, some sites don’t have much shade and some do. Less than 1/2 mile walk to beach. Couple miles from Oceano dunes. Hot showers. Can get windy. Dog friendly.

I skipped out on Oceano and came here hoping they might have something open. Turns out they had 8 and the park ranger let me drive in to scope it out. I picked a site close to the beach and even better my Oceano reservation could be transferred. Yay. Loved this campground so much. It’s well laid out and all the sites are well spaced and clean. The evening was much quieter, with a sunset and sounds of waves. A ten minute walk to the beach and right next to the butterfly grove. I have already made another reservation to see about the butterflies when they are in season. Pismo Beach is fantastic!

Probably just due to the time of year but this campground was way too rowdy for my taste, all the sites are close together and it seemed almost every site was a very large group, generators running after 10pm, amplified music and tv! If that’s your jam you’ll love it. I took off after 1 night.

Clean and very nice view. Easy access to the beach.

This is our second time at this location, first in dry camping, second time in the Jupe tents. As much as I was begging for this stay to be worth the $470 for two nights, it definitely wasn’t. The concept is great but really faulty when executed. 1) they disclose when booking that power to the tents may or may not work. The truth? The solar panels don’t charge whatsoever if there is fog/cloud cover in the mornings. Was told this directly by management. Soooo…. Considering this is a bay site, right on the ocean…. We didn’t have power once. Morning fog happens every single day. (Even though it was completely sunny from 12pm-5pm) this was frustrating, and we would’ve packed accordingly given knowledge that we would’ve been powerless all weekend. The blankets they provide don’t keep you warm either, so if you stay on a night below 50 without an electrical blanket or backups, prepare to freeze. During our stay we were also told that there was only one overnight maintenance man, on a Friday, during Labor Day weekend. That poor man didn’t get a break once all evening and definitely deserves a raise and to be treated better by his employers. He’s the only reason this review deserves a star. For such a beautiful location, this company is really fumbling. Disappointing.

Didn't have to go as far as GPS pin led me to believe, spot on right shortly after pavement ends. A bit trashed, wish I had a bag to clean up, some bigger stuff like a kids bike, to etc

Located on Vandenberg base which requires a membership card (military I.D.) This helps keep the camp site more private. No one goes here. It is tranquil and has trails to hike and lakes to fish in. Hunting is also allowed during select seasons. If you like quiet and keep to yourself, this is the place. There are no trash cans and a permit is required for campfire. There are a couple of port-a-pots and they are very clean. Go SpaceForce! Lastly, watch out for poison oak. Stay on the trails and all is well. Semper Fi.

This is tragi-comedy: I was invited to a wedding in Santa Barbara. It was summer and the most fleabitten motel prices were astronomical. I began to look at campsites within driving distance, I was desperate. Booked Catchuma and thought, hoorah, I’ve defeated the tourism trap. 

Well… from the moment I arrived . . . I really could not care less about the wedding. My god. I think I’ll leave it at that. 

Bring binos. Boat, bring your canoe/kayak.

We had reservations for 2 nights on an Augugst Friday / Saturday at Lopez Lake in a full-hook-up site in Bandtail (Site 38). The reviews of this place were great, and the photos were beautiful. We arrived to find a HUGE park (yes, I should have noted how many campsites there are). Check-in involved parking our van and standing in line like Disneyland. The park employees were nice though. There were big signs all around "NO FIRES" (more on this later) and I was also told at check in that there were no fires. We found our site easily enough, only to realize how closely packed the sites were in Bandtail. Some nice folks to our right had three sites - 11 kids and 21 people between them. The kids rode their bikes all over, and even onto our site (while also running around our van chasing a chipmunk). We had our daughter's dog, so tried sitting outside in the shade, only to find that in addition to the heat (it was mid 80s), there were biting flies. :( Poor puppy got bit or stung more than once. So we went in our van and turned on the AC (it could run on low with the 20A service there). Then, after dark, a dad and his young son arrive on our other side and had to back in their boat in the dark. We got out of our rig and helped them (twice) with our portable lights and guidance. In the morning, they spoke in very loud voices and we were right next door. We did take one of the trails in the heat, but they are not at all well maintained - basically trampled grass that could easily hold a snake. While the area is pretty, it is just way too crowded for our taste. Oh, and the bathrooms were dimily lit, had a couple of non-functioning toilets, and were dirty. We were ready to get out of there and will not be back. Lastly, though the fire danger was marked as extremely high and "NO FIRES" signs at check-in, along with verbal warnings of no fires, I saw two campsites had open fires in the fire pits. This blatant lack of regard for rules and safety didn't sit well with me. And no one was enforcing the fire ban. Sad.

We stayed here a few years ago, but on the primitive / non-hookup side. We stayed on the E/W hookup side this time and liked it as well, though it does have the more typical RV/parking lot feel as compared to the other side.  There's a nice walking trail that connects the two sides. It's $50 for an E/W site, plus an $8.25 reservation fee.

There's a cool lagoon that you can walk all the way around on, with lots of birds, and much of it accessible as well which is nice. There's a cool visitor center, open 12-4. The beach is a short walk away. There's a great Mexican restaurant down the road also, Old Juan's, it's so good and has great vegan options.

The showers here are nice and clean, and $1 gets you 4 minutes.  The showers are individual, private, and non-gendered. There was no host on site when we were there, but the rangers were very present.  This campground, like all California State campgrounds we've been to recently, has trash, recycling, and a food compost bin which I love.

There's a fun game for kids where you download an app and go on a scavenger hunt and complete other challenges.

No dump station here, but there's one just 2 miles north at North Beach Campground, and it's $10 for dump and water fill there.

We love being able to camp directly on the beach, and have done so many times in Texas and in Louisiana, but wouldn't recommend it here unless you are in a 4wd. We did see 2 skoolies on the beach, but then we also saw a pickup truck stuck in the sand in the parking lot outside of the beach, so there's that.

Camping overnight is only $10, and the beach is wide open for camping. It was very busy during the day on a weekday in August, so I can imagine the weekends are packed. 

This is a fun beach in a fun, low key beach town, and we love coming here.