Back

Reviews

Rancho Oso RV & Camping Resort


User Reviews

Critical Insights

June 27, 2025

This park is really beautiful, with a pool, jacuzzi, and large playground area, however, the administration failed to show competence in an extreme way. Additionally, their "wi-fi" was on a low-range antenna at the club-house, not reaching even the closest RVs during my stay, and there is virtually 0 cell signal there. I was able to use a cell signal booster to receive a tolerable cell signal, however, and of course, Starlink will likely work most of the time, though it is situated in a valley with a bridge passing over nearby. The major issue I ran into was because I had auto-billing set up, and had them just auto-renewing my contract with them continually so that I could stay there indefinitely. While this worked most of the time, at one point they lost my billing info somehow, and then, when I had guests who used their credit card to pay the gate fee, they charged my $700 rent to my guests credit card. Needless to say, my friends, who did not have $700 to spare until the credit card would refund it, freaked out, and the park was not helpful when we contacted them about the error. That being bad enough, several months later, the manager failed to set my lot to auto-renew, as it had the previous 6 months, and then contacted me on a Friday telling me I had something like 3 days to remove all of my possessions from the park.. I was out of town at the time, and if you've ever expanded a pop-out camper to live in indefinitely, you would know that it takes a good bit of preparation to be ready to relocate again. I ended up leaving that park in an undue rush, with the manager indicating they couldn't resolve their error for me because they had booked the spot out to someone else. It's hard not to give this location 1 star for these reasons, but it was quite beautiful and peaceful.. though the management operated as though their operation is part of the filming of "trailer park boys".

artem gorbunov

June 05, 2025

I was really looking forward to staying at this beautiful place, but unfortunately, my plans were disrupted. I had booked it for July 4th, but a month prior, I received a cancellation notice due to renovations. What's disappointing is that I was allowed to make the booking in the first place, despite the planned closure. As a result, my family and I will now have to spend our long weekend at home, which is really frustrating

B and C

December 21, 2022

Nice big quiet beautiful Thousand Trails campground. About 1/2 hour from Solvang and Santa Barbara. Laundry facilities are outside and require quarters. Staff are not helpful in helping you obtain quarters. No change machine on site. Horrible cell and WiFi. Nice scenery and setting. Lots of barnyard animals. Friendly staff. Be Aware: (Men at Work šŸŽ¶ reference…)If you’re 6’ 4ā€ and full of muscle, like me, you can’t ride the horses 😢. There’s a weight limit.

Faith Thomas

March 06, 2022

Beautiful scenery and the unique opportunity to go horse back riding on a trail with a guide! Make sure to make reservations for your ride at least the day before. Laura and Alexis at the barn and stables were very friendly and knowledgeable. The horses were well taken care of and very well trained. I've never heard of campgrounds offering activities like horse back riding, so this campground really stands out. In the barn you can also go see other animals like goats, pigs, and bunnies if you're not keen on riding horses. Either way, I totally recommend the horse back riding experience and staying here! We had an amazing time and would love to visit again in the future ✨

Joanna Herron

February 06, 2022

Incredible Forest surround Oso with many many trails and wildlife to explore... Incredible mountain views. Oso itself embraces the old traditional western lifestyle which is fun to learn about. Unfortunately the culture feels a bit outdated though. There aren't the best environmental policies or stewardship practices here. A lot of older folk... Not exactly the highest vibration/conscious community in my experience. Amenities make it feel very luxurious compared to most basic campgrounds but the price for me was feeling overwhelmingly out of place. I don't entirely regret becoming a member of thousand trails, but on many levels wish it didn't feel so capitalist, trying to get more money out of people. Still a ok place overall.....

Tasha (Tasha)

December 30, 2021

It is very peaceful here. A beautiful environment. Great general manger, nice staff. Beautiful horses.

Gayle Andersen

October 03, 2021

No cell or wifi! Didn't know completely cut off out there

Hebert Shuhua

October 01, 2021

I contacted this base in September and wanted to rent here for 1-6 months. You can give me a flexible location, but told me to wait for the boss to reply. The boss told me that I didn’t know the location of the site, so I waited. After waiting for 60 days, everyone said if it’s too much. Could the boss just tell me that there is no place so I can choose another base?

Margo Devlin

August 23, 2021

I really enjoyed my 4 days in the Western Cabin...it was clean and tidy, and conducive to curling up with a good book in the evenings! The horses were well looked after by guide, Torrey, who was so friendly and pleasant. The barn was "spit spot." I would recommend this place to anyone looking for a retreat in mountains.

Diana Cannizzo

July 12, 2021

It was kind of a first come first serve when it came to RV spots which was nice. Staff at the front gate immediately tried selling us a membership before we even pulled in. It was very very hot. Make your horse riding reservations before you even get there. It books up very fast. The pool. Where do I start. No one monitors the pool. Ever. The rules are very clear at the pool. Common sense rules. Every day there was dogs, glass bottles, alcohol and food. I even heard about a near drowning of a 2 year old during the 4th of July weekend due to the mom being too under the influence to properly take care of her child. The pool was crowded and kids running. I was just waiting for someone to slip and fall. I spoke with the store employee and she said there wasn't enough staff to monitor the pool and if I saw a problem to go to the start of the park and call a ranger. She stated that the other thousand trails have someone watching the pool, but they don't have the staff. Even after talking to the store employee and making my concerns known on the first day we were there, I never once saw a ranger and we were there for 4 days. The worst. My husband took my 9 year old daughter to the bathroom. Waited outside and while she was in there a couple,a man and a young woman came out of the bathroom together. Maybe he was just changing or maybe something worse, I can't take that chance with my daughter. The bathroom next to us was not kept up either. 2 out of the 4 days it was not cleaned. It showed and was obvious. I can definitely say I'm glad we did not sign up for a membership and we will never go back to this site.

Susan Heck

January 14, 2019

This is a typical thousand trails campground. Sites are first come first served. This was our second visit to Rancho Oso. The drive in is a winding road not meant for nighttime. Of course we arrived at night... The place is very dark at night. The sites are back in and with the darkness it is super hard to navigate the tight turns and park. It was also hard to follow the map to get to the old section. The map shows you going through the dump!!! Arrive during the day!!!!! We stayed in the older section that does not have sewer. The sites are very nice with lots of shade and trees. They are much nicer than the much smaller sewer sites on the hillside. The restrooms were clean and big with a special handicapped bathroom perfect for my daughter or anyone needing a wheelchair. We were mostly visiting relatives but did find time to go horseback riding. Had a great time although they arrived late to our session. The campground is huge and really has a lot of activities. It is well kept up with everything looking like it was just built they do an excellent job on maintenance. Much much better than other TT campgrounds. Cell service is very spotty so don't plan on having it. I'd love to give this five stars but the lack of light at night makes it too unsafe to arrive after dark. A few well placed lights especially near the few rows that have culverts or trees would be appreciated. We arrive at other campgrounds at night and have not seen the same issue.