Visit Rancho Oso RV & Camping Resort In Santa Barbara
Tired of the cold weather yet? If you haven’t already headed south for the winter, there’s no better time than now to pack up the RV and seek out the sun and warmer temperatures. With a Thousand Trails Camping Pass, you can access dozens of RV resorts and campgrounds where it stays warm all year, like the scenic Rancho Oso RV & Camping Resort in sunny Southern California.
The best RV camping near Santa Barbara
Rancho Oso is located just 30 minutes from Santa Barbara on the south side of the Santa Ynez River in Los Padres National Forest. This popular RV resort combines a true Wild West ranch experience with all the modern camping amenities to keep you comfortable.
The resort has 159 RV sites with full hookups, as well as a variety of accommodations for those without an RV, including cabins that resemble Wild West buildings, covered wagons, safari tents, a tipi, and cabins and cottages that can sleep the whole family. The cabins and cottages are fully furnished with beds and linens while the tipi provides a more authentic camping experience without power.
Pets are welcome in many of their accommodations, including some of the cottages, cabins, and safari tents. A dog park is available for guests in addition to a variety of resort amenities.
Stay in one of their cabins styled like Wild West buildings – Photos via Thousand Trails
Amenities at Rancho Oso RV Resort
Guests can make full use of the swimming pool and hot tub, laundry facilities, restrooms and showers, WiFi, and playground. A country store, picnic area, and RV storage are all available as well.
There are several various activities on-site including volleyball, basketball, tennis, pickleball, and mini-golf. There are also wooded hiking trails you can take nearby including one that leads to a waterfall.
Soak in their swimming pool and hot tub
Of course, a Wild West experience would not be complete without spending an afternoon horseback riding. The property has spacious pastures with roaming horses as well as paddocks and barns. Go riding along their wooded trails while you soak in the warm Southern California sun and the resort’s beautiful surrounding views.
Spend an afternoon horseback riding
Plan your trip to Santa Barbara
Their location near Santa Barbara puts them just a short drive from plenty of things to see and do all winter. Make a visit to some of the area’s popular attractions like Old Mission Santa Barbara and the nearby Danish-style village of Solvang, CA.
Rancho Oso is located in the Southwest Zone of Thousand Trails campgrounds. Pass holders can access this resort without having to pay nightly fees as well as 17 other campgrounds across the region. You can learn more about their camping passes on their website here.
Before you go, be sure to plan your trip with RV LIFE Trip Wizard and the RV LIFE App to find more campgrounds and points of interest along your route. You can also read campground reviews from previous visitors and learn more about their accommodations on RV LIFE Campgrounds.
See also: Give The Gift Of Sunny Adventures This Winter
This sounds like an awesome place! I am adding it to my places to visit.
We have been there twice in our motorhome. It was a great experience both times. You are off the grid – no cell phone reception or wi-fi except in the lodge. Great hiking in the surrounding hills. Eventhough it wasn’t real warm when we were there in the winter, they had a great heated swimming pool.
Although this is a beautiful resort, a few things you should know. Cellphone service is almost impossible as is over-the-air tv. Covid closed the lodge when I visited last year. So no wifi there either. The road up to the resort is very narrow and has many turns. If another rig is coming the other way, you must run off the road to get by.
I have been there and we left without staying. The road to the park is very dangerous, in some places there is a mirror for you to look in to see if another vehicle is coming and if there is, one of you will have to back up and hope there is enough space for you to go around the other RV. Not the kind of excitement I was looking for!
The spaces are so close together that you can shake your neighbors hand upon opening your front door. But to top it all off we had a reservation and there wasn’t a space open for up, the park people said we could stay i the electric only part, wasn’t that nice of them?
My take, it isn’t worth the trouble getting there and then not having a space for us even with a reservation. And just so you know that pictures are not what the park looks like today. Happy RVing some place else.
Typical Thousand Trails facility way out of the way run down facility. Member for 20 years way too long not worth it at least for us.Finally have enough canceled membership.
Since I lived in Santa Barbara, I went to Rancho Oso many times. It was always a pleasure and my family always had a great time. So many things to do or you can just relax. Internet access was a little sketchy, but hey, how you gonna relax when you’re surfing the web? ;>) I highly recommend Rancho Oso.
$70/night for RV and no hook ups. Are you joking?