Reviews

Freedom Wheels

We stayed here the week before the 4th of July and man I wish we could have stayed for the 4th. They had so many amazing events planned. We stayed in a cabin and from the minute we checked in we were treated like family. The ranger explained all the events, things to do, and the towns to visit. We loved our little cabin. It had everything we needed. We loved sitting outside at night and star gazing. The next morning we explored the location and all the staff was so friendly and let us know all the amazing things to see and do. Karen was so kind and gave some great history on the park. We can’t wait to come back. This place is a must to visit.

Karen Nay

We just spent three weeks at Rancho Oso and fell in love with this resort. Not only is it located in a beautiful area on 300 acres its quiet and peaceful and my campsite was perfect. The camp was clean, the bathrooms were spotless, great landscaping free of trash and taken care of by the attentive staff. Speaking of staff, shout out to Karen and Christian who made our stay pleasant, they went above and beyond, both were friendly and showed heart. I was sad to leave. Of all the Thousand Trails campgrounds I've stayed this was the best! We will be back.

Sandy Ago

This place is way out in the middle of nowhere. Very spotty cell coverage with your Wi-Fi. Cabins are quaint, but it's hard to get The attention of the workers because their short staffed. I wouldn't stay here again. They were flooded out a couple years ago and maybe this is just a hiccup in services. However the road leading up to the facility is narrow and a car or a truck on the other side of the road would leave maybe 6 in between y'all to pass each other. I don't know how people with RVs get up here

TruckerGitty

There is no horseback riding. The horses are only to look at. Pool and hot tub are down for repairs. Lots of foxtail in the grasses. Thank goodness there are things to do outside the campground. Wifi and your phone probably won't be working good either. Aggravating when we expected, so much fun here!

Judy S

5 STARS! The PERFECT WEDDING VENUE! Unbelievably beautiful natural setting for our 75 person wedding at Rancho Oso, Thousand Trails, Santa Barbara. The nature, the scenery, the private setting and the lighting for the reception, led to the perfect weekend for our outdoor rehearsal dinner and next day wedding and reception. The scenery was spectacular and the accommodations were perfect for our upscale rustic luxury wedding. This wedding weekend, was also a family reunion where everyone attending was able to stay on site, throighoutbthr weekend, in adorable tiny homes, offering more time for connection to each other, to nature, which cut down on commuting time. A lifetime of memories, were created, for the entire guest list. Thank you Rancho Osos, Thousand Trails, Santa Barbara

Sierra

We had an amazing experience at Rancho Oso for our wedding. Liz and Cris are awesome, they helped get everything set up and taken down!!

Carrie Thompson

This place is Breath taking. Close to Cachuma Lake. The beach is 30 minutes away. Gorgeous mountain views. Quiet. There is a path to a creek that you can swim in. This place was closed for 3 years 3 months because the 2023 flood took out the well. Plenty of horse pastures. Plenty to do. They have pickle Ball, pools are not open up quite yet but soon. You will enjoy it here

Critical Insights

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

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

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 🎶 reference…)If you’re 6’ 4” and full of muscle, like me, you can’t ride the horses 😢. There’s a weight limit.

Faith Thomas

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

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)

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

Gayle Andersen

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

Hebert Shuhua

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?