Best Glamping near Oak View, CA

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 😉

At first, we thought it was a tad pricey but after you realize what all you’re paying for ya wonderful!

We had an RV, two cars. and a tent and they allowed us to use one spot, for $30 a night! Which is pretty rare!

SUPER fast wifi(if that’s your thing, we were here for a little under two weeks, so it was nice!), electric hookups, picnic table and fire pit! AMAZING bathrooms and coin showers as well as coin laundry!

The ADORABLE town of Ojai is a quick 5 min drive up the road with anything you could ever want! The camp host is an amazing older guy, who’s incredibly friendly and takes pride in this campground!

They lock the gates at night (you can still get in and out!) so you feel safe, they allow pets, and even though it’s buy a road you don’t hear any noise at night!

Perk (or maybe not a perk if you’re not into it), it’s one of the most haunted campgrounds in the US!

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:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djcr_GYf1kc

I prefer primitive or dispersed camping because I usually like as much privacy as I can get when I'm camping, but with current fire restrictions I was limited to developed campsites if I wanted a campfire (and what's the point of camping without a campfire?). I was also planning the trip on short notice, so developed, reserveable campsites were in short supply. Then I found Reyes Creek.

The campground is very isolated. It's about a 40 minute drive from the nearest town (and therefore the nearest gas station or market - plan ahead). There is no power, or water. There's no cell service in the camp, but a 5 minute drive up the mountain there's a dirt lot they call the 'phone booth' that gets decent reception. The camp hosts were super friendly and helpful. There are 2 loops for campsites - the center of the main loop seemed pretty flat, but all the sites were visible to your neighbors. Sites on the outside of the main loop offered more privacy, but most appeared to not be very level, and not necessarily well laid out. I stayed in site 11 on the outside of the loop which was large and fairly quiet, but my 6 person tent just barely fit in between some trees which offered some shade and was only on a slight angle. The one downside was the bathrooms - vault toilets that varied in condition, but none that I used were particularly good. If bathroom condition is a major sticking point with you, you may want to look elsewhere.

As an added bonus, as isolated as the place is, right outside the entrance to the campground is a bar & grill called the Camp Scheideck Lodge. They have a full bar and great food (and the customer-only bathroom is a great step up from the campground). It just changed owners last month (second time in a couple years) and the new owner, Devin, is friendly and welcoming.

The temperature varies greatly from day to night (90's to 50's when I was there) and there are bugs a plenty, so bring repellant. Firewood is available at the camp, and ice is available at the lodge.

So if you want a little isolation with privacy, a campfire, and a friendly bar within walking distance, this place is for you. I'll definitely be coming back.

I have been coming to this campground annually since around 2009, and I've loved every trip. The campground is on the larger side, filled with grassy and shaded sites all throughout it. There is a general store, clean bathrooms, and showers.

The campground is based on a peninsula that juts into the lake, therefore it has waterfront campsites on both sides, and all the sites in the middle are only a matter of 2-3 campsites from a water's edge. When you first enter the campground, there are a few day use only spots near the general store. All campsites at the base of the peninsula are the ones that families tend to stick to, as there is a pool, its close to the store, and that is the only area on the campground with full and partial hookups. As you travel up the peninsula, limited Yurts and Cabins are along the waterfront. Most yurts have a foot trail down to the water. The Yurt I stayed in (we camped 3 nights and had a yurt the last two) slept 4-6 people, 6 if you have kids. Yurts do not have bathrooms. It has electricity and heat, two bunk beds, a view of the lake, a wrap- around patio with chairs, picnic table, fire pit, water source, grill, and ample parking space. I have never stayed in a cabin here before but they look really nice.

The general store is filled with pretty much anything you could ask for. About 3 rows of dry grocery goods, 1 refrigerated section including a very impressive selection of local craft beers, ice machine, firewood, smores stuff, fishing poles/ odd's and end's, candy, trinkets and gifts, propane, camping supplies, cooking supplies, stationary, etc. The wine selection, on the other hand, is sub-par; so a stop in SB on the way up is a must if you need wine! Keep in mind the store closes week days at 4 and weekends at 5 if i'm not mistaken.

I think the main thing that keeps this campground so peaceful (other than their strictly enforced quiet hour from 10pm-7am) is the fact that NO SWIMMING, speedboats, wake boarding or waterskiing is allowed in the lake because is is a source of drinking water in the area. That being said, you are more than welcome to rent a 4 or 6 person fishing boat or 6-10 person pontoon boat for the day or hourly at the marina fishing store. The lake is open to fish until 6pm if you have a vehicle or are on a boat- a park ranger will come around at 6 and let everyone with a car know its time to go. However, if you walk to the marina, you could fish all night for all they care. You can also purchase fishing licenses for the day, 2 days, or year, at a reasonable price (I got a year pass it was $53.74) along with endless fishing lures, bait (including live), hooks, line, and poles. In regards to actually catching fish- In the past years I always rented a boat and i caught a lot of bass and carp, an occasional rainbow trout. This time I had plenty luck from certain parts of shore! Tons of beautiful 3 lb rainbow trout and 2 lb crappie! The limit was 10 per person, and people around us definitely caught their limit, but we were conservative and only caught what we needed for the day. Some fish bite more in certain areas of the lake than others, if you don't mind to hike a mellow/ moderate journey you'll find plenty of little coves within a reasonable distance of the campground. If you're looking for a bit more strenuous of a journey word has it there is a trail that goes all the way around the perimeter of the lake- I, however, have not hiked the trail, as my husband and I were backpacking into the campsite and that was an adventure in its self and I was exhausted!

Like I mentioned before, the bathrooms and showers are very clean. No mirrors in the bathroom, there are multiple bathroom buildings throughout the campground along with the showers. Showers are individual rooms that have a locking door. Showers are pay showers, so bring a lot of quarters if you plan to stink pretty. I think it was $1.50 for 3 minutes.

Another note: This campground is near the water (the lake and the ocean) and you're in the mountains; which means it will be generally pretty windy (bring chapstick!). The wind dies down midday and at night. If you're trying to light a fire when the sun is setting- good luck. 20 minutes later- you're golden. It also gets very cold at night! I'm form Southern California, so by cold I mean mid to low 40's, then add wind- yikes. On the contrary, bring sun screen for the day- cause it gets pretty warm! I'm still suffering the repercussions of not wearing any after fishing all day lol.

Overall the campground is aesthetically pleasing on many levels. From the abundance of grass (no dirt sites), trees, rolling hills of knee high grass, blooming flowers, wildlife (ground squirrels, birds including california condors, blue jays, hawks, etc.), and, of course, the gorgeous cascading mountains plummeting straight into the lake, there's not a thing about this campsite I couldn't love.

Hadn’t been here in over 30 years and it’s still a great camping beach. Beach is clean, swimming is mellow, the tide pools are cool, and you can walk to just about anything you need. There are trains that come through right behind the campsite, but did not seem as obnoxious as I would have thought.

Loved the whole place but one thing. The spots are tight!!!! We felt like we were on top of our neighbors and had to park our car far away. We even had one of the premium spots on the sand (360). Our fire pit and table was within feet of our neighbors stuff. So much for social distancing. Luckily, the camp host, Tom, was awesome! He saw that we got pinched in and loaned us a fire pit that we set up away from the neighbors. Very friendly staff and it appears that they are doing a lot of work on the campground to make it nicer. Just wish they’d make the spots a tad bigger.

I’d go back for sure, but if you are in the mood for seclusion and harnessing your inner introvert. This is not the place for you.

I stayed at Kenney Grove Park on my way from Vegas to Santa Barbara, and again on my way back. I believe it was $23 for a dry camping spot, plus another $2/night for having my dog along. It was a lovely, quiet park that I was surprised to find tucked away in Fillmore. On the Saturday night that I stayed, it was lively with BBQers and families, but quiet by 10. Shower houses were lovely for a vanlifer like me; bring your quarters as they are coin operated. Nice clean bathrooms with running water. Water spigots, picnic tables, and firepit at each site. Cute little grassy park with swings. Also- gorgeous orange groves and rose bushes decorating the road into the park. As a Midwesterner, I was in awe of that! Loved walking my pup along that road.

With all the Covid-19 guidelines in place for campgrounds to reopen, I was excited to see what that would look like. I naively thought the campgrounds wouldn’t be open to capacity and I was hoping for camping not so close to other campers. I don’t love how tightly packed everyone is on a normal summer camping day/night. So imagine my annoyance when it was just as tightly packed during this social distancing summer as it usually is!

With that said, people were kind and our small campground worked for our family. The only problem we had was a neighboring campground deciding past quiet hours that it was a good time to start singing and playing the ukulele. Not sure why the camp host didn’t come tell them to be quiet. It lasted until 11:30pm at least.

There is construction on one of the bathroom buildings so there were additional porta-pottys with portable hand washing stations next to them. These bathrooms were very clean! I was pleasantly surprised.

We love the beach access right next to our campsite and the beautiful scenery of the mountains above. It really is a gorgeous place.

Our boys loved guessing what trains (metro link or surf liner) were passing through- because yes- the train is a stones throw behind the sites and the trains runs frequently.

My 4 star rating is for what it is. A great camping spot that will always be booked to capacity because it’s beach camping in Southern California. I wanted to write an updated review for those wondering what covid-19 looks like here. Well? It’s the same. Just some extra hand washing stations and some people wearing masks.