Searching for the best camping near Solvang, CA? Camping, hiking, biking: however you want to spend your days near Solvang, you'll find great campgrounds with The Dyrt. Find the best campgrounds near Solvang, CA. Read reviews from campers like you and find your perfect campsite.
"I am a native of Santa Barbara, CA, so I grew up going to Cachuma Lake. Cachuma Lake’s main recreational area is on a bluff overlooking the lake."
"Fire pit at 409 put in a strange location so that we is located on the back side of our trailer. Really no other way we could have configured it."
"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. "
"Close by solvang town and many pretty hiking trails"
"Trail and dog park available. Just kinda sucks you hear the cars passing at the 101. But I’d still come back."
"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."
$30 - $34 / night
"While visiting Los Padres National forest on a Valentines Weekend, we unfortunately couldn’t do much camping near the higher altitudes due to high wind gusts so we headed toward the other camps, Davy Brown"
"Figueroa Campground is a 33-35 site campground behind Los Olivos, CA. It is surrounded by live oaks and gorgeous manzanita trees, so there is a lot of shade available."
"Jalama Beach offers great walks along a long beach that is nestled in a cozy bay. Surfers, couples & families can enjoy this beautiful place."
"This campground is right next to the beach and is well loved by the many return campers I spoke with."
$75 - $195 / night
"▫️Common area is really cool ▫️Hosts are friendly and welcome you with a glass of wine or beer and give you a tour of the property ▫️Dog friendly
Cons ▫️Some sites have highway noise ▫️It very expensive"
"Loved everything from start to beginning, the dogs, the bbq with the owners, the choice of campgrounds - each more beautiful than the others. Recommend!"
$40 - $44 / night
"each site is allowed one car, but there is parking right outside the site along the road.
The site is near many trails and about 6 miles from the red rock day use area."
"Our camp host was extremely nice and came around with dog treats for every single dog there so they all loved her. Water spouts vlose to each site and bathrooms surprisingly super nice."
$40 - $84 / night
"Each campsite is very nice with shade under large oak trees, fire pits, bbq, and nearby trash and water. Bathrooms were clean. Camp host very nice."
"Nice walk through a secret tunnel out of the park to a little river nearby. Would stay here again."
$30 - $34 / night
"Nira is a small, primitive campground in the San Rafael wilderness behind the Santa Ynez Valley."
"Beautiful drive to get to Nira with stunning views. Had a nice visit having the whole campground to ourselves, although the nearby trailheads had several cars."
"I played some mini golf, right next to the horseshoe pits, but other amenities you use at your own risk. The store, and kitchen are closed."
"This 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."
GuideThis 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. 
GuideNot far from Solvang and right on the beach. It's a "parking lot" campground so you're right next to other campers. The bathrooms were okay and there were showers available. The sinks for washing dishes were not working. The train goes by right next to the campground, but we like that sound and it didn't bother us. The camp host was very friendly and even had a "little free library"! Nice touch.
The person at the pay station gave us a map of the sites that were still available so we could drive through and choose the one we wanted, then return to pay for it. Unfortunately, we found that the map was not accurate, but we did find a site.
There were large fire pits.
I imagine this campground fills up quickly on weekends in summer, as it's not far from populated areas. I think we were lucky to find a spot on a Friday night without having a reservation.
LegendEconomical for California and the area. Off the beaten path from all the craziness by the beach.
We are just passing through CA or it would not be my top spot. They nickel and dime a lot of things, showers pets. We paid online and we pull up and all of a sudden getting charged $5 a day extra for pets including a cat that doesn't leave the camper. Was not thrilled about that.
Otherwise, it was scenic, had a camp store, was close to restaurants, had a gate to drive into, so the place was pretty secure. Seemed like a lot of people gathered on the weekends.
We had the dirt campground which wasn't my favorite but all that was left, while the other campgrounds had cement pads. It was still pretty level.We did have cell reception, nice views and they had a water park for kids during summer months, though wasn't open while we were there.
LegendI am a native of Santa Barbara, CA, so I grew up going to Cachuma Lake. Cachuma Lake’s main recreational area is on a bluff overlooking the lake. There you can find tent sites, yurts, cabins, and full hookups for RVs. There are also smaller campgrounds at lake level - we prefer to stay in the Mohawk Shores campground, which is at lake level. The Mohawk Shores campsites are in a more densely packed oak grove, offering more shade and more privacy than the upper-level campgrounds. A few years ago they started pricing the “lakeside” sites in Mohawk more expensively than the rest of the sites in the area; ironic though, since the lake has been so empty the last few years due to the drought, and these sites are no longer lakeside.
The campsites each have their own picnic table and firepit with a grate, and water spigots are available in various places around the campground. Mohawk has its own bathroom with flushable toilets and coin-operated showers - the bathrooms and showers are kept clean. I prefer to shower in the showers located in the upper-level campgrounds, as they are in their own individual, lockable stalls, rather than the locker-room type set up in the bathroom in Mohawk. There are multiple dumpsters available for trash AND recycling around all of the campgrounds.
Caution: There is a lot of poison oak around the park!
We have rented a yurt a couple times, and hope to do so again soon. The yurts have bunk beds inside (bring your own bedding!), an overhead light, and a heater. Outside each yurt is a picnic table, charcoal barbeque, a firepit, and a water spigot.
We will often bring an easy-up to use in the day-camp areas in the upper-level of the park. There are oak trees all over the park, but if day use site with a table under a tree gets snagged, it’s nice to have the easy-up for shade - if you have one, I would recommend bringing an easy-up if you are going to camp in the upper level campgrounds, not all of the sites have shade.
A small but well-stocked general store is available, as well a small (expensive) gas station. Cachuma also has a pool (for an additional fee), gameroom, playgrounds/jungle-gyms, and disc golf courses available.
Cachuma Lake is a great place for wildlife viewing and birding. I am a photographer, and love seeing all of the birds that hang out around Cachuma - ducks, coots, Western and Clark’s grebes, loons, osprey, hawks, turkey vultures, turkeys, quail, American white pelicans, cormorants, etc. I have gotten my best birding photos at Cachuma Lake. Deer can often be viewed on the shores of the lake, and we have even seen bobcats and foxes. Pontoon boat tours to view wildlife launch every day from the marina.
Keep in mind that you CANNOT SWIM in Cachuma Lake. Silly, I know, but they justify it because Cachuma lake is Santa Barbara’s drinking water source. You are allowed to boat, kayak, and fish on the lake, but no swimming! Motor boats and pontoon boats are available to rent, and now they even have kayaks to rent hourly! My dad has a small 14 ft fishing boat, and we enjoy taking the boat out on the lake to fish and sightsee.
There are endless trails around Cachuma Lake in Los Padres National Forest. There are some mellow hikes around the perimeter of the lake itself, offering nice views of the lake and the surrounding Santa Ynez and San Rafael mountains.
Figueroa Mountain is near Los Olivos - Grass Mountain and Figueroa Mountain are both beautiful hikes, especially in the spring when the wild flowers are in bloom. Both are strenuous, steep hikes, but the views are totally worth the effort.
Cachuma lake is about a half an hour from the city of Santa Barbara, 15 minutes away from Santa Ynez (if you like to gamble check out the Chumash Casino), 20 minutes away from Solvang, and 20 minutes away from Los Olivos. There is fantastic wine tasting available in any of these small towns, and everywhere in between - you are in the heart of Santa Barbara’s wine country! There are endless tasting rooms available inside the towns, and countless vineyards that you can visit to wine taste. A popular wine trail is on Foxen Canyon Road - it is a lovely drive on a country road with some really beautiful and quality wineries and vineyards.
Solvang is a fun town to visit - it was originally a community full of Danish immigrants, so the Danish theme has stuck. It is very touristy, but even as a native, I still enjoy going to Solvang. There are a lot of shops, antiques, candy stores, restaurants and tasting rooms to visit. We are partial to the Solvang Restaurant, and for more than just their Danish Aebleskivers. If you don’t know what an aebleskiver is - its DELICIOUS. Aebleskivers are round Danish pancakes that are shaped like a ball - they serve them with amazing homemade raspberry jam and powdered sugar. Everything at the Solvang Restaurant is good, from their traditional breakfasts to their Scandinavian offerings to their sandwiches.
More Food Recommendations:
Cold Springs Tavern is a historic site dating back to the 1880s when it was a stagecoach stop. Cold Springs Tavern has a full bar and serves some quality meat selections, including famous Santa Barbara style tri-tip. If you are there on a Sunday, they start serving traditional tri-tip sandwiches around 11am - BEST tri-tip sandwiches around! They cook up the meat on giant barbeques outside, and serve the sandwiches hot off the grill - just tri-tip and fresh garlic bread, YUM. They have homemade salsa and homemade BBQ sauce to dress the sandwich with. Sundays at Cold Springs Tavern is a popular spot for locals to go have a beer or a drink with tri-tip, and there’s always a fun atmosphere.
If you are in the mood for some quality Mexican food, Dos Carlitos in Santa Ynez is a favorite spot.
Los Olivos Grocery has a great deli with delicious sandwiches - both hot and cold - and a good selection tasty deli side dishes. The store also has a good selection of local wines.
CAMPSITE SPECS
Fees: $30/night
**Plumbed Toilets: Yes
**Drinking Water: Yes
**Showers: Yes (coins needed)
**Picnic Table: Yes
**Firepit: Yes
**Cooking Grate: Yes
**Shade: Yes
**Cell Service: Yes - Limited
Animal Bins/Food Lockers: No
Trash: Yes
GuideWhile visiting Los Padres National forest on a Valentines Weekend, we unfortunately couldn’t do much camping near the higher altitudes due to high wind gusts so we headed toward the other camps, Davy Brown and Nina. Only problem was these were all reserved!! Why I hate most camping in California Bc nothing is ever available. Either way I hate these type of campgrounds where there are fire pits, and bathrooms, and typically more humans nearby. So we ditched that and settled on a campsite off the road since the sun was setting. It was off one of the many horse/hike trails and was at least flat and somewhat further from the road and hidden by brush and trees. It was a nice night and enjoyed a quiet night alone on the forest. We only needed to do an overnight since we were doing the wineries and we’re staying at an bed and breakfast the next night. Overall it was nice but rather stay in 2 other spots we found that could make for future camping trips. ☺️⛺️
TravelerLovely place and lovely staff! It’s a bit pricey but you get what you pay for. They also have heated pool and jacuzzi, clean showers, and bathrooms. Trail and dog park available. Just kinda sucks you hear the cars passing at the 101. But I’d still come back.
GuideEverything‘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.
LegendHuge campground! Variety of sites from dry to full hookups. Anything with hookups is cramped though. We originally booked FHU and opted out for much more spacious dry site. Dry sites really vary but all are largish. Fire pit at 409 put in a strange location so that we is located on the back side of our trailer. Really no other way we could have configured it. For such a large park with so many amenities I cannot believe the dog park is downright tiny. But park during week is largely vacant so a lot of space to let your dog run (which is against policy). Sure the place is a muddy mess is the rain. Ground squirrels got the place all torn up but hey they were there first. Generally this is a great destination resort! Go see the monarch butterflies in Goleta in winter months. They overwinter there!
TravelerJalama Beach offers great walks along a long beach that is nestled in a cozy bay. Surfers, couples & families can enjoy this beautiful place. Watch for tar on the sand & pack some petroleum jelly to help remove it in case you step on it barefoot. There’s a small freshwater stream that flows right into the shore where your pets & kids like to splash around & play. Lots of driftwood & rocks pepper the shore so bring water shoes.
Explore the beauty of camping with your furry friends near Solvang, California, where several pet-friendly campgrounds offer a perfect getaway for both you and your pets.
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dog-friendly campground near Solvang, CA is Cachuma Lake Recreation Area with a 4.3-star rating from 59 reviews.
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