Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Santa Barbara, CA

Low key but nice beach side campground along California’s Central Coast. Not to far from Santa Barbara. A bit of a surfers paradise because of some of the spots not far from the campsite.

This is a great 35 campsite campground located about 50 miles from Santa Barbara. There are hiking trails with views of the forest and mountains to explore.

Every campsite has a fire ring and picnic table.

Campground Review:

This would be the most epic campground ever for a huge family reunion! There is something for everyone here- RV sites, tent sites, cabins, yurts, even big group sites. There are tent sites overlooking Lake Cachuma, and tent sites in the shady grass, and almost everything in between. There's a dog park, and playgrounds, and a pool (since you can't swim in the lake because it's drinking water... which was strange to us as Utahns when all reservoirs are drinking water and we still swim in them), and a general store! There are close to 200 sites here, which is mind-boggling to me. It was an awesome campground, and we were cooking up plans for a someday party (be it friends or family) there.

The restrooms are plentiful and clean, the quiet hours are well observed (though that may have had more to do with the fact that the campground was pretty empty while we were there), and the facilities are reasonably easy to navigate. Every employee we interacted with was helpful and professional. We rented kayaks for several hours while we were there and it was a blast! This place is a perfect little getaway a super reasonable distance from Santa Barbara and the surrounding areas.

My only complaints were mostly about the tent sites. Some of them are a little too smashed together with unclear boundaries, and the footing consisted of kind of icky weeds. I know, it's me being absurdly nitpicky. But I can't give EVERY campground 5 stars... right..?

Product Review:

As Rangers for The Dyrt, we get products to test from time to time, and at Lake Cachuma we tested out some Optic Nerve sunglasses. We used them throughout our trip, but they came in especially handy while kayaking! The morning started out a little cloudy so we were worried that we wouldn't get a real opportunity to use them, but the sun eventually came out and the sunglasses were PERFECT. The pairs we got were polarized, which was great for cutting glare from the water (as well as driving throughout our whole road trip. The sunglasses were comfortable and seemed high quality, which was great considering they're nowhere near as spendy as some of the high-end brands of sunglasses. I'll admit I was too much of a wuss to see if they'd float in the lake, but they were awesome for keeping our eyes safe and protected (from the sun and from splashes)! If I had to have any gripe it would be that the wood grain print on the sunglasses I got (which I love) is pretty pixelated up close- completely a non-issue that only affects aesthetics, but might look better with a higher resolution for future printings.

Pro Tip for Hungry Adventurers: DO NOT MISS Cold Spring Tavern just up the highway from Lake Cachuma. Delicious food, atmosphere that is simply out of this world, and a gorgeous setting. Seriously. Don't miss it. And if you live in Santa Barbara and you've never been... GO. NOW. You won't regret it.

In 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:

• Call in advance since it is small you will want to make sure that there is in fact a site available and might have to be placed on a list.
• Best for detachable vehicles such as 5th wheels so you can move around town without having to rely on ubers.  Uber is a lot higher in this area for some reason than it is in other areas, probably because it is a destination location.

There's a lot to do here for kids; little hikes, boating, pool, parks, and the nature center is always a favorite for my kids. We've stayed in the main camping tent area, RV sites and the 500 sites down the road, all were great! It's close enough (about 20-30 min) to Solvang and Santa Barbara so you can take little day trips if you are staying a while. Dog friendly!

There's a lot to like about Flying Flags RV park.  Its clean, has lots of full hookup sites, an onsite restaurant, clean facilities, as well as tents and cabins for rent. Why a 3 star rating then?  Well, per my system, 5 stars are the truly special places (i.e Yosemite, Zion) where one should travel to for multiple days. 4 stars are top-tier spots for locals, and should be part of a larger trip to the region for out-of-staters (examples include Lake Sonoma and Lopez Lake). 3 stars are perfectly fine, but you mostly go there for convenience. Flying Flags in Buellton is such a place. You come here because you can explore Santa Barbara, Solvang, and the surrounding wine region. The RV park itself is big, and the spots are pretty close together, and while it's not necessarily beautiful itself, it is clean and comfortable. If I'm planning a trip to Santa Barbara in my 28' Airstream, this is absolutely a park I'd stay at again. I prefer dry camping (i.e. limited or no hookups) in my trailer, but I certainly appreciate full service as well, and Flying Flags delivers.

If you own an RV, this is a perfect "home base" for exploring the area.  Solvang is a town in central California that looks like a Scandinavian village. It was featured prominently in the movie Sideways. Buellton and Solvang are both basically right in the heart of Santa Barbara wine country. Many, many wineries are within short driving distance. Santa Barbara is an easy hour-ish trip.  The coast in Santa Barbara and just south in Carpineria is some of the most beautiful in California. The surfing is exquisite (these are well known, popular spots so expect the usual "locals only" aggression in the line up). Paso Robles is about 100 miles up the road from Buellton, so it's entirely possible to do an "up and back" in the same day.

Flying Flags RV park won't take your breath away with natural beauty, but it's close to a lot of places that will.  It's convenient, clean, and a great place to park an RV for a couple of nights as you explore the surrounding areas.

$10 per night per person, max 2 nights and 48 hour wait before you can come back. Max 5 times per year.

Took my son here for a weekend to explore Santa Barbara. There is no overnight parking in the park unless you have a previously reserved car camping campsite. We walking in with our belongings and there was three other campers on their bikes. Short walk to the Amtrak Surfliner, restaurants, dogs are allowed on a leash on the campsite. There is a dog beach a few minutes walk away.

There’s 3 fire pits for H&B campers, a Food box and a bike rack.

Very clean with great customer service.

Easy access to Santa Barbara too.

This is campground is on a great stretch of California Coastline north of Santa Barbara, but it is very popular in the summer time, so make reservations. We've camped here in the winter (the weather is still beautiful) and gotten choice spots with great views of the Pacific. The campground is one of the better ones in the area with full facilities which make for easy car camping.

This is one of my favorite beach campgrounds. There are trails for biking and hiking and great views and beaches. Nearby markets and cafes are convenient and a short drive into Santa Barbara offers more fun options. Beaches offer okay swimming, but better exploring of little caves and coves.

Everything‘s clean and orderly. Pool area is nice with a nice hot tub. Friendly staff and the grounds are well kept. Nice dog park. Not much road noise from the 101. Has all the modern conveniences. And all this comes with a price. It is pricey, but there’s a lot of amenities.

This is a truly unique campground that my family has been visiting for decades. You can walk into town and eat at the amazing restaurants quaint Carpenteria has to offer. Or you can listen to the waves roll in from your campground as you cook something up over the camp fire. A great home base to explore Santa Barbara or Sloveng too.

This was an excellent urban campground.  It's very compact and depending on your site you may need to coordinate pulling in and out with neighbor sites.  Very clean, very nice and helpful staff.  It's right in the city - near to the beach and zoo (biking distance for us).  Only flaw is it's right next to the freeway.  But it's ideal if you want to visit Santa Barbara!

We spent two nights at El Capitan State Beach. Our site had an ocean view, which is why I give this campground a 4-star rating. There isn't much to do here (limited hiking), so that is why it isn't a 5-star review. Still, other than one windy day, we had a lovely time relaxing here, walking the limited beach bluff-top walk down to the beach and west toward Refugio. The path used to go all the way to Refugio, but it is closed right after the walk/bike-in campsites at El Capitan due to the ocean erroding away the cliffs the path sits on. The bathrooms were fairly clean and there are showers (didn't use). Like many CA parks, the area has a run-down feel. We went into Santa Barbara on our way to and from the campsite. It is about a 20-mile drive, so a bit long. One of my photos is at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara (you can see the pier). It is a good place to park a van (up to 22 ft) or they have "motor home" spots for day parking.