RV Campsites near Santa Barbara for December holiday camping?

[Orv]

I think there'd be a high risk of re-enacting "The Long, Long Trailer."

[rltilley]

Nearly positive I camped at Carpinteria when visiting Santa Barbara. Not sure if they have RV spots since we tented it.

[mikracer]

Ive never camped at Rincon, but I've driven past a million times. With how far it is from the 101, I wouldn't think road noise would be an issue at all, especially in an enclosed trailer.

[Orv]

In my experience, traffic on the 101 also tapers off a lot after 10 pm or so. I suspect you'd hear some traffic noise but you'd have lots of ocean noise to mask it. You're probably more likely to be awakened by a train.



Whether you camp there or not that stretch of highway is worth driving. That whole part of the coast is like the backdrop of a car commercial. I've lived here two years and when I come up out of Ventura and the ocean is suddenly RIGHT THERE it still makes my jaw drop.

[kalvarav]

Jalama won’t dissspoint. Right by the water and there’s a little general store if you forgot anything. About 50 min north west of Goleta

[pidpot]

I’ve never stayed there myself but another campground that comes to mind is Lake Cachuma Rec Area. It’s in the hills not the coast, 25 min from SB.

[newcastlelinda]

Agreeing with pidpot... What about Cachuma Lake? is that too far away? I've not been there ... just looking at a map.

[Orv]

Cachuma is about 20 miles from downtown SB.

[alaimie]

Rincon is on Hwy 1 which is right along 101. The road noise you will get will be from Hwy 1 & the trains that travel up & down the coast. Spaces open up Sun - Tue but Wed-Thu are more difficult. Fri & Sat are impossible. The SoCal regime of firemen/police etc have a racket going where they have their own system of signing up for spaces amongst themselves on their own calendar. One RV scheduled to leave will wait for the next on the calendar to pull up before taking off. The bank of prime spots in the 60-70s are typically “booked” thru out the year by them in this manner.

[Orv]

BTW I'm going to be camping at Lake Cachuma for a few days, in a couple weeks. I wanted somewhere close for my first outing in the van -- something of a "shakedown cruise" to make sure I've thought of everything I need. If you have any questions I can give you a field report.