Rancho Oso Resort

My husband and I are new to the Thousand Trails membership and were excited to try out Rancho Oso. The location so close to Santa Barbara and the photos online of the park looked fabulous. I did not read reviews ahead of time (unfortunately) and were not prepared for the terrible roads to get into the campground and lack of internet connection.

Roads: As others have mentioned, the roads in are extremely steep, winding, and narrow. We have a 31ft Airstream and definitely scraped our bottom just turning onto the road to get into Rancho Oso. Thank goodness no other campers came down the road because I have no idea how they could have passed us. We left early in the morning in the hopes of avoiding any incoming traffic and I got out of the car to spot at the exit of the road so we could exit without bottoming out (it is possible but wasn't easy and took a lot of maneuvering).

Internet: The cell service / internet at Rancho Oso was unusable. From the campsites there is no service and even at the community center there is barely internet (incredibly slow, still unusable). We have Verizon internet in the camper and T-Mobile (through Google Fi) on our phones and had no service anywhere. We both work remote so this was a deal-breaker. At least at a couple other Thousand Trails campgrounds with poor cell service we were able to purchase the Jabba internet to get connected, but Rancho Oso doesn't offer any internet. We were planning to stay at Rancho Oso for a week, but unfortunately, after one night we had to leave early the next morning to go to a different campground with internet before work. (We went 10 minutes down the road to Lake Cachuma Campground and now have 4 bars of 5G!)

Rancho Oso did have incredible views of the surrounding mountains. In the early morning as we were packing up to leave the mountains were shrouded in mist and it was beautiful. The horse stables are fun and the community areas looked nice, so it's a shame the internet and the roads make it unlikely we will be back to this campground. If you don't need to work remote and have a shorter rig, this could be a great campground for you.

This past week was our third trip to this campground in the past 5 years. We’ve enjoyed it at each age/stage of our kids growing up. We have memories of the rodeo put on over at the corrals when you enter, lots of long bike rides and just hanging out as a family in the campground. The spaces are a decent size but not quite enough space to really enjoy hangout by your camper (right next to your neighbors utilities is no appetizing). We’ve always done the full hook ups on the hill that we refer to as the layers. The pools are nice and the store has a good supply of the basics to cover you on what you may have forgotten to pack. Unfortunately this past week there was a major leak and we had several days where the water needed to be turned off (ok if planned for and tanks are full, not convenient if you’re expecting to have the full hookups).

This is one of my favorite TT we have visited so far. Yes, it is remote and the drive can be a little harrowing if you have a big rig. The premium sites are packed together but the views of the surrounding hills make up for that. The lower campground has more trees and nicer setting. Amenities were closed when we were there in December 2020. Best feature about this campground is the proximity to the Los Padres National Forest and all the hiking trails nearby. We had plenty of places to explore and enjoy the outdoor setting.

We are new to the Thousand Trails network, and we were excited to try out a campground in our (professionally built) school bus conversion. After a 7 hour drive, harrowing drive in (make sure you approach the entrance from the northern side otherwise you have to climb on a very steep pass coming from 154 on the north side) and limited signage telling us we were close, we finally made it to the front entrance. From the road entrance, there is another 5 minute drive on a winding (albeit well paved) single lane road - if you have a big rig and are coming in during busy check-in/out times, you might end up nose to nose. It's narrow, and steep in places. Once we managed our way to the entrance kiosk, and explained our reservation, the "manager" told us we could absolutely not stay here, as we have a school bus conversion. He actually pointed at the bus and asked me (in the accompanying car), if I was "with that". I was dreading the thought of turning around and making our way out of this mountain pass in the dark, and asked if he could make a one night exception. He showed me a "1" symbol with his index finger, like I was a kid in trouble, rather than a paying customer with a 1000 dollar membership, and said "one night only". I was shaken up, and exhausted from a long drive, and this was not the welcome I was expecting. After seeing I was a member, he decided we could stay our full, 2 night stay - but did point out on the site map, that the premium sites were full, and we would need to stay in the back. Glad to be inside the gates, we bumped along to the back of the campground - into a dusty, hidden area - far far away from the "premium" customers. Looking around I quickly realized we were surrounded by other "non-premium" cliental with older model RVs or worn looking ones. Warning to other skoolie/bus conversion owners, don't come here.

The road in seemed newly paved. Even without the new surface it didn’t seem as steep or narrow as you sometimes get when using dispersed campsites. It was occasionally narrow and large vehicles may need to move over but most should be fine.

The sites are right on top of each other, with no shade. If you go down the hill to the 100’s section then you may get a bit more shade and a bit more privacy.

We LOVED the horses. If you want to ride, book before you go. Due COVID they are only taking one family out at a time and so it sells out quick. It’s reasonable too, $50 for a one hour trail ride.

Bathrooms are nice. Showers are private, unlike some CA TT’s. Good access to Santa Barbara and a nice scenic drive.

No cell service though, maybe 1 bar at most.

A few ways to review this place. If you love boon docking this may not be your spot. BUT.BUT.BUT......... If you are used to RV parks this is a good place. The full hook up sites are a little sardine like for my taste. There are partial sites that are pretty good with trees and space in between each spot. BUT, the things they offer are amazing for young families, couples, and horse people. They have miniature golf, movie rentals, tennis court, horse back riding, an infinite amount of hiking trials, wine tasting, game rooms, bbq dinner gathering, breakfast offered on weekends and more I can’t list them all. It’s a perfect spot to have a group of people and/or family gathering. You can also rent a cabin or covered wagon to stay in. They have movie nights, game nights and just a ton of fun stuff. Reminds me a little of the all inclusive vacations that used to be popular in the 50’s (at least that I’ve seen in movies -ie:Dirty Dancing and Marvelous Miss Mazel.)but less organized in a good way. And on top of all this it’s a great spot if you want to be close to either Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez or Buellton. All within about a half hour drive. Dump site available on site, a store, and the quiet rules are fantastic! No worrying about loud music. This was actually one of the quietest places we stayed at (that was an RV park) Weather in the area of course is always amazing. We love boon docking so it was a little cramped for us BUT we’re from Santa Barbara so it was a great place to be close to family and get a little camping/hiking in.

We liked the location and it was very quiet despite having most campsites full. The road is fine until the last mile. It's not as bad as others have reviewed but it is one lane and can be difficult if you have to pass someone. We have a 43' fifth wheel and had to pass a couple times. We were able to do that without an issues but there are some corners that it would not be possible and would require backing up. It's only a mile though and traffic is lite. We had planned to stay 16 days but left after 3 because of the poor cell reception. I needed connectivity to work remote and only had intermittent service with AT&T, none with T-Mobile.

We caught the tail end of the tarantula mating season and did see one cross the road. The flies were crazy when we first arrived but a with the cold snap the next day they were gone. If you don't like spiders, snakes and flies then you won't want to be here during the warmer weather. It's a decent campground but we would choose other locations first due to the cell reception.

Many people really like this place. I don't so much. First, the drive in to the CG is a bit nerve racking. Lots of comments and videos about that so I don't need to beat a dead horse.
The water went out for 2 days. Not a water boil but no water at all. Lucky I had some in my tank to last me. Oh, and when the water goes out the rest rooms are locked closed. One thing about this place is they are on well water. The water was the hardest I have EVER seen. My softener usually can do the job for up to 3 weeks. This place? 4 days and I would have to regen. Crazy hard water here. It was off the chart on my test strips.
Another day the power company shut the power off for "public safety". It's 100 out and they shut the power off. Real nice!
Nearest grocery is Whole foods in Santa Barbara. You need to take the Grand Prix raceway (154) into town. It's a twisty mountain road where looney tunes driving on it where they think the speed limit is 100 (where it really is 55). They'll try and pass you even with a double yellow line in the center.
Then there are the flies. OMG, flies are all over. You cannot go outside for 10 seconds before there are 5, 10, 15 of them on you. Sorry, not my kinda place. I was going to give lower stars but the roads are paved. I was able to get cell service although many said they couldn't (go mock MIMO antennas). I was able to get between 3-6mb DL. UL was really slow so don't try and upload much here or video conferencing (if you can manage a signal at all. It is very hilly here so that may play a factor in whether you get a signal (I was kinda in the middle)
The pool is ok if you stay in the water as the flies will get you there if you are out of it. The wine tasting on Sat afternoons is nice. It was really hot here and 30 amp service only. So, only one AC and in a larger motorhome one AC doesn't cut it well. So, if you like flies, or just like to stay inside, or like to apply bug spray if you just go outside for a few minutes this place will do you fine.
The staff were nice.

This campground is very quiet as it is in the mountains fairly remote. It's really quite beautiful with the horses and the ranch-style. The RV spaces are tiered so there are multiple levels. The only negative is that the road leading up to the campsite is really really bad. Your RV is going to shake and there are hairpin turns. Also cell phone reception and internet is spotty at best. I have a WeBoost RV 65 and even with that it's difficult getting Internet through AT&T and T-Mobile is nonexistent.

We stayed here a couple of weeks as part of our Thousand Trails membership. It is a beautiful area not far from Santa Barbara. Solvang is just a bit to the north. I love the California oak woodlands and this is a great example. Acorns and woodpeckers all over. I also saw a Peregrine Falcon.
The staff did a great job and there is propane on site. We would definitely stay here again, although, connectivity is limited. I managed to boost Verizon enough to squeak by, but uploading video was impossible. There is good cell service down Paradise road if you are in a bind.
All in all, it was a good stay. I shot some video here too, https://youtu.be/oKasoy1ELlk