Sonoma County Fairgrounds RV Park

The weather washed out roads and dumped enough snow to close three National Parks that we planned to visit in California. So our travel plans changed, and we found ourselves with no place to go between Sequoia National Park and our next stop in Napa. We scrambled to find anything in the San Francisco region and found availability at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. The site had full hookups, workable cell strength, and was close enough to some places of interest, so it was worth trying. But it isn’t a park for us going forward.

My first observation was that the sites are very tight. We had to park our truck next to the RV and there was so little space that I had to fold my mirrors in to fully open the door to our Airstream. Our neighbors were very close as well. We were not able to roll out the awnings and there was really no place to sit outside to enjoy the weather so we spent a lot of time inside.

The other issue I had involved getting mail. I called before arriving to ensure that I could receive some packages from Amazon, was given the address, and was told to include the site number. After I placed my Amazon order, I got a call from the park saying that they changed my site number. Later, I discovered that they gave me the Fairgrounds business address and not the Fairgrounds RV Park address. Both of those issues led to delivery delays and contributed to my already negative impression.

The only real upside for us were the full hookups, workable cell strength, two week availability, and proximity to San Francisco and Point Reyes. Even with that, we are unlikely to stay again.

We work from the road and use three main carriers with three different routers to ensure connectivity. For this location, we relied on Verizon's signal. ATT was a bit wonky for us, but workable. T-Mobile was less reliable.

There was just enough room side to side in the sites but front to back very tight. Not my favorite place but was good for what we needed it for. They gave us two coupons for a free bucket of balls at the nearby golf course. It felt safe which is always important. Neighbors were pleasant. Was asked to pay ahead on the phone. Later I saw that I was charged an extra five dollars for what, I don’t know. Maybe for using credit card. Guess I should have asked.

The pros: ease of access to 101; the other campers are quiet and respectful; the restrooms are clean enough; security does nightly rounds.

The cons: lots of environmental noise (freeway, surface streets); there is always low-key an odor of sewage through out the grounds; sites are are extremely narrow and rows are difficult to navigate due to sheer number of rigs; you have to park your truck in your patio to fit; the gal that works the office is rude and impatient if she has to do literally anything.

I would say 90% of the sites are occupied by full-time residents, most appear to work for PGE. Their rigs are nice and most spots are well kept. The RV marked “camp host” had trash piled up in the windows that gave the appearance that trash was stacked to the ceiling.

This is definitely not a place to camp, more of a place to stay on the way overnight on the way to somewhere else. There is nothing to offer if you are traveling with a family. The nearby park is full of homeless people.

Bottom line, we stayed there for two nights for an event in Santa Rosa in lieu of getting a hotel room. I would only stay here again if I had no other choice. It served its purpose, and that’s about it.

This place worked for what we needed for a few weeks in the Santa Rosa area. The sites are very tight and it is just an open gravel parking lot. There is a laundry room and restrooms. It is accessible to downtown Santa Rosa. The wifi is very slow and AT&T cell service was not very strong, but good enough for one person to be on the internet, emails, zoom (voice only) and make business calls.

I was working in the Santa Rosa area for three months and needed a place to stay with my 40' MH. Was surprised that this was the best offering in such a beautiful area with so much land. WiFi is slow a times and redirects you to a login page so you can only use with browser-based devices, NetFlix or Downloaded TV shows. Many weeds and spaces are very close together.

Major disappointment, this place is horrible. As a former resident of the area for 30 years I came back to visit family and stayed here. Local government should do better in providing a facility like this, it is not an RV Park. What it is: A loose gravel parking lot with sites that are 4 inches off in angle side to side and crammed together. White chalk lines mark your site. Your neighbors will be 3 feet away from you on any side and the back. Parking is horrible, you have to park in your patio area due to small size of cramped sites as roads are too narrow for any parking in front of your Trailer. Vehicle access roads are narrow and not nearly safely wide enough, negotiating in and out towing OR NOT towing requires attention. Due to loose gravel almost any leveling device will slide when you try to level. I took mounds of the loose gravel and made my own "hills" for tire locations to get level. WiFi is a joke. Many contract workers staying here to do utility work for PG&E. Pretty consistent diesel noise almost any hour day or night. Unfortunately this place is not a comfortable place, do not stay here.