Cachuma Lake Recreation Area

its clean and nice. dogs are allowed. staff are wonderful. there was an awesome band the next move on saturday night. the lake is at like 10% full or something so there is no boat ramp etc.
to whoever stole my hammock (and im looking at you, white lady in the midsized sedan with the feel the bern stickers at site 439) fuck you.

We have come tent camping and yurt camping here. If you have never been in a yurt I highly recommend trying it out. It is a fun experience. No complaints about the campgrounds. Unfortunately the «water front» isn’t that anymore because of the drought. Close drive to Solvang.

I think this would be more of 3.5 stars. A group of us went this past weekend. Anyone with a «lakeside» view ended up abandoning their site and moving over to the sites of those of us on the interior because of the gale force winds. The winds were so strong, you couldn’t even hold your phone steady to take a panoramic picture! LOL
The bathrooms and outhouses were clean. The grounds have a lot of trees but beware of the foxtails with their burrs which is most of the groundcover. Some sites have fire pits and others have cubes with one open side and a decrepit «grill.» If you plan on cooking, you might be better off bringing a camping stove. The store has almost everything you’d need and all of the rangers and employees seemed nice and helpful. There are a lot of birds who, while beautiful to see wheeling about in the sky, will attack unattended food.
What I didn’t like about it was that it didn’t close the gate at night and at all hours, people were coming in to party or grab a spot to camp. This didn’t make me feel very safe, especially since the rangers leave at 10pm. I also think better care should be taken to clean the spots since they have quite a lot of old beer caps, broken plastic utensils and the like. I was looking forward to getting away from people and enjoying nature. I don’t think this really qualified but I had a good time with my friends anyway.

Great place for camping with family and friends. And if fishing is your thing, then you will love it here. Need the water level to rise at the lake.

A group of 7 of us went with our 2 dogs over spring break. It was a bit windy but the area is beautiful and relaxing. There was plenty of spring rain so everything was green and the group was in high spirits. The lake is obviously very low, but there is still plenty of water in it and you know you are at a lake. Unfortunately the campsites are no longer immediately lake side, but the water is just a short walk from camp. Plenty of hiking in the area and the rangers were all friendly and helpful.

We camped here this past weekend and don’t have any complaints. Huge area with different campsites, store, gas, dog park, etc… There are a few fees in there, daily pet fee, second vehicle fee, kayak fee, and so on. It starts to add up depending on what you are doing and how long you stay. Unfortunately, with the lake being at only 14% capacity, it’s a sad sight if you’ve seen it in the past.

It was sad to see how low the lake was during the summer and the pool was closed. I got but by mosquitos it was not so great. Wish this drout would just stop

It would be a great place fro camping or day trip if we could have more water in the lake.

This was a great place to stay and a huge time of relaxing and spending time with the family. I can’t wait to go again the next time.
They do have electrical outlets at some of the bigger group tent sites, so that you can charge your phone or whatever… I don’t know if that is a good thing or not, it depends on how you define camping.
The place was very clean upon our arrival and we left it like that as well. We had no neighbors that weekend and it was very quiet. Just the way I like it.
They have a pool, a general store, hiking trails, boat rentals, movie night and more. I would definitely go there again.

I stayed here from Sunday-​Thursday and had a nice time. We stayed at site 585, and it was a beautiful spot with nice shade. The people at the front gate were incredibly nice and friendly, which was surprising because I called a few weeks prior, and spoke to a woman who was short with me and was not at all friendly.
We went fishing with one of their boats and was not able to catch anything, but still had a lot of fun being on the water (since you cannot swim in it).
The restrooms were clean, however the showers were not as much, not terrible though. By the time the water in the shower heated up, my three minutes was up, and I had to put 50 cents in again.
The campground was quiet, except when we had some very inconsiderate neighbors move in next to us. Quiet time is at 10pm, so when we went to bed at 10:30 and our neighbors were still awake we let them be. That was rather difficult as they decided to walk through our campsite, shine flashlights into our tent, and set up a makeshift shower right next to us. I woke up later that night at 12:30am to a loud hammer and shouting. At this point I decided to make a call to the park ranger, who I realized after many unanswered calls, was not there. Sans quieting down, and no relief from the ranger we decided just to pack up our campsite and sleep in the car elsewhere. We woke up in the morning and went to talk to the person at the from check in, requesting a refund for the one night we were unable to sleep in our site, and were given a «refund request form», from which we will get a response in 6 weeks. When confronted about the MIA ranger, we were informed that the ranger goes home around 10 or 11pm, and we could have called 911 and requested a ranger. I did not see any times posted around the camp with the ranger’s hours, which is frustrating as we were left on our own to deal with inconsiderate neighbors.
We had a nice time, but will not be returning.

Stayed in a group campsite and wasn’t disappointed with the size of the group campsite and it was close to the lake. Lake is low but still really nice to look at.
Once you pay for the site your daily car fee is as well covered, other camp sites actually charge for additional cars. Our camp site included 8 car spaces.
There were showers with 3 minutes for .50 cents but they needed to be cleaned more often, the shower trash bins were so full, small but full of people’s nasty stuff. Showers were hot and no ventilation so make sure once you are done to get out or else you will be sweating up a storm.
The restrooms were also okay but management needs to clean the floors more often and actually provide better toilet paper dispensers.
Grounds were fine. Only one pool, nothing else for kids.
Would I return, why not, had fun. Be aware that 10pm is time to shut everything down and whisper because if you have picky neighbors the Rangers will be asking you to keep it down.

I had a good time at this lake. It was a Tuesday so overcrowding wasn’t a problem. We saw a lot of birds and even a group of deer on the other side of the lake. The bathrooms were clean and there is a store that sells supplies. It can get hot so its good to bring something that will provide shade. Also, some locations are so much better than others so it’s best to look at the map of campsites and reserve ahead of time.

Ok wow, this place gets super hot in the summer time. So hot, the shade doesn’t help. The surrounding area is beautiful and the campground itself is pretty neat. This is basically for beginner glampers. They have all the amenities of a home in the outdoors! You can shower, put your trash in giant bins, lite big fires in the pit, park your cars on pavement, wash your hands after going to the bathroom. Aside from the glampers what else do you think this set up might attract? If you said shady characters you guessed correctly… there were definitely some questionable people camping around us. Lots of families and a few loonies.
Overall it’s a great place to go just to get out of the city for a bit. I guess I’m not too crazy over it just because it was really really hot and also because you cannot swim in the lake. Also I found it quite depressing that the lake is getting so dried up that there are boat docks that don’t touch the water… I have mixed feelings about Lake Cachuma. I can tell at some point before it was a fun place where families can swim and fish, but because of the drought they aren’t even restocking the lake anymore and no one is allowed to fish, I’m sure the water is really gross now because of the drought.
Breakdown of why the drought is bad. Little to no rainfall = very dry landscape. Very dry landscape = brush fires. Please take this message with you and pass it on to anyone at the campground who abuses water. I had to educate our neighbors about the drought… she literally had the water on full blast shooting onto the ground and she walked to her camp and back then turned it off. It’s hard to believe that there are people still completely unaware of the drought, so it’s important to educate people about why the drought is bad so they get the full picture.

It’s about $ 10 for a day use parking pass. There are lots of places to fish on this lake with no coverage so bring your umbrellas, etc. The fish cleaning station was nice and made it so easy to dispose of the unwanted parts before returning to camp. There is also a nature center which is fun to explore.
Bring your own ice for your fish as the store does not always have the smaller ice bag. Plus it’s more expensive then in town which is not in close proximity to the lake.
The day use areas have a lot of flies and bees. I tried to grill here for lunch while my husband fished. It was so bad I had to leave and I came back for him later.
There are showers here at the lake. The ones closer to the store are MUCH warmer then the ones in the campground. We came twice on our week stay. The second time the women’s shower took my money and wouldn’t work. I had soap all over me and shampoo in my hair. I wrapped myself in a towel and went into the men’s showers since no one was there except for my husband and my boys. There are 2 stalls without doors in the shower section. And I will say that the showers on the men’s side lasted much longer than on the women’s side.

5 stars rating for the off season and weekdays only. It gets filled up holidays and summer weekends, so you can expect some negative issues due to over crowding.
That said this is one of my favorite campgrounds in the area. Plenty of spots for all, from RV’s to tents.
There are some ‘Prime’ spots that cost a little more, but if you look around you’ll find some very nice non ‘Prime’ spots.
The Yurts and cabins are a bargain for the asking price, if you want a easy time camping check them out.
Cell phone reception is very good throughout the grounds.
There is a well stocked store here with everything you’ll need. Also a gas station!
Boats of all sizes and kayaks for rent.
Tackle and fishing gear at the boathouse.
There is so much more that I haven’t listed.
Plus it’s only about a 10 minute drive to Santa Ynez (Chumash Casino), and a few more minutes to Solvang.

Very nice place. Went during the weekday and it was great. Noone around. The grounds are well kept and clean. The lake was beautiful. We had the run of the place and we loved it. Dogs loved it. We stayed in a premium spot and it was kind of pricey $ 38. Signage could be better about pricing.
This place is a very nice and very large campground, I highly recommend it.

Really great place to camp out.
It’s best to reserve ahead of time online.
And if you get there early enough, you can still change your spot you have reserved to something better.
Good workers there and very clean (except the portable bathrooms)
Try going down to ride the motor boats and go canoeing.
You pay by the hour and it’s pretty cheap. Had a blast!

First time here and really enjoyed the change in scenery (normally I head for the Los Angeles National Forest and San Bernardino mountains). This year, the water of the lake is really low due to the serious drought, but still beautiful.
Book 5 – 6 months in advance for lake shore camp sites, and 1 year out for the cabins during high seasons.
The main recreation area is really congested and noisy from people staying in the campground, people staying in the cabins, and day use. However, they offer an option for everyone; they have tent sites, yurts, cabins and RV hookup sites.
Definitely bring quarters for the showers. As of August 2014, it costs $ 0.50 for 3 minutes of waterflow (shower with a friend to save water due to the serious drought and to save money!) The general store and registration booth were not helpful in providing change; no change machine either.
We stayed in the Mohawk camping area near Jack Rabbit Flats. The area was much more quiet (but the group area wasn’t booked our weekend, nor was the UCSB rowing team present). It was much more secluded and quiet, with lakeviews and direct trails to the lakeshore. Our campsite, 588, was nice and shaded the entire day, but bathrooms are a bit of a ways away. (They provided 3 port-​a-​potties near by for bio-​emergencies). 10 – 15 minute walk to the general recreation area.
Kayaks and boats may be available for rent. We walked many of trails around the lake. We did the Sweetwater trail from our area, which was about 7 – 8 miles roundtrip. The views were REALLY nice, but it was only partially shaded.
No body contact with the lake water is allowed since it’s used as a source of drinking water; no swimming or jet skiing allowed!
Parking available at each site. Some sites are much more crowded and congested with cars since they were close to other sites; the 580s were much more spread apart.
Some sites have fire rings while other sites have fire pits (which do NOT all have grills). Snacks, firewood, etc are available for purchase in the general store. There is also an expensive gas station on the premises. Solvang and Santa Ynez wineries are a short 15 – 20 minute drive away.

Cachuma Lake, what happened to you? This is the third year that my family and I have camped at this site and things have definitely gone down.
First thing, the lake has definitely dried up. My cousin talked to the employees and they said that due to the drought, it’s only at 30% capacity. The lake used to be right next our campsite 2 years ago, now it’s about a 10 minute walk down to the shore. Also due to the drought, all the lush green plantlife is now dried up brush. Can you say fire hazard?
Another thing we noticed too, the dirt in our campsite felt a lot more rocky than before. We had to enlist the help of the kids to pick up rocks and throw them by the trees so we could set up out tents.
We arrived on a Wednesday so it was empty and bathrooms were clean. By Friday, it was packed and bathrooms and showers were gross. The showers are supposed to be 50 cents for 3 minutes. Some weren’t working, others kept going after the 3 minutes so you ended up paying for someone else’s shower and some didn’t even have warm water. The lake is low, yet they have showers running past the 3 minute time.
We had to do our laundry since we had water ballon fights and everything was so muddy. There were 5 washers and only 2 worked. 5 dryers and only 3 worked. And it was expensive. Washer was $ 2.50 and dryer was a quarter for 8 minutes.
Now for the good: We always get the big campsite away from the main road since there is like 40 of us. So, we are lucky that we don’t have noisy neighbors. Being with the family and making memories is always the best part. Hence the 3 star rating.
After camping again at this site, maybe we will look for something else next year.

Lake Cachuma is beautiful. Picturesque mountains all around and a beautiful lake (which has dried up considerably from drought over the past couple of years).
My friends planned this camping trip over a year ago. Why in the hell did they choose July 4^th weekend is still a mystery. We were there for 3 nights and 4 days.
There were 30 of us… yes 30. Everything was planned ahead of time including our campsites. When we arrived at the entrance… all hell broke lose. The ranger was confused and said everything was booked even though we showed them we were part of a large group that arrived the day before. To make a long story short… it was a big mess and it took us about 2 hours to hash it all out as more of us were coming that same day and the day after.
About 10 of us ended up camping at the overflow area. Which made things very complicated because we had to hike far to use the facilities and visit our friends. The porta potties were nearby but I did not feel like using it after it stews in the sun everyday. The boys did not care however.
Good thing is they only allowed 2 cars and 8 people per campsite. We had 10 people and 4 cars… the rangers didn’t say anything.
Every aspect of what I love about this camping experience has been like a double-​edged sword.
Here are a few examples:
I looked forward to sleeping in my tent. However we did not get much sleep for the 3 nights because we were in «tent city» and apparently everyone of our neighbors LOVED to play mahjong and screamed until 3 am every night.
I LOVE that they have showers. However you have to pay 50 cents for 3 minutes. This doesn’t bother me BUT I had to wait about an hour in line. Because there were just too many people and although there is a 3-​min limit each person took about 10 mins or longer (getting undressed, dressed, etc.).
July 4^th weekend was just too hot and humid at the high 90’s. We seriously could not do anything but snack all day and drink beer. I fell asleep in my tent during the day and almost passed out from the heat. My friend made her boyfriend drive around the camp with the air conditioner on to cool off.
I don’t camp much but the very few times that I have has been very disappointing. I would not come back here again during the summer months or around holidays where I know it would be crowded.
The one thing that I really enjoyed about this trip was hiking down the lake during nighttime and watched the stars with my friends.

Campground is pricey for dry camping in an RV. We camped by the lake the only nice spots by the lake are dry camping.
Bathrooms are filthy and out of toilet paper and paper towels and it’s only Tuesday hate to see it on a weekend!
Not to sure if we would make this a regular place for our camping spots.