Los Prietos Campground

You need to know what you’re getting into. That’s the key thing.
#1 No showers. Repeat: no showers. In fact, there’s no showers anywhere for — literally — miles. Considering my stay was going to be four three nights and four days… well, let’s just say one of our trips to Santa Barbara was specifically to a beach with a shower, mmmkay? And there IS running water and toilets (no sinks) so you can scrub whatever crevices need attention so that you don’t feel full-​on horrid. Still, if you’ve got a family, this can get cringe-​worthy. That said, I’m sure there are a camping-​specific showers you can buy from Coleman. They make EVERYTHING.
#2 There’s not much to *do* around the campsite, so be sure to look for nearby locales. There are a few hiking trails, but I don’t think any tie up to the campsite, so you’ll be driving out to find them. We tried Red Rock, which is a good 20 – 30 minute drive out of camp. Unfortunately, even before 10AM the temperatures were well above 100 so that hike lasted about a half-​mile — but there was a few neat sights to behold, including a pretty great diving rock that I would never have enough courage to dive from. ;o) There’s also a lake nearby for boating, but if you’re going to bother going out to the lake, I suggest you camp there as well. There’s also Solvang and Santa Barbara (of course). After a day of trekking, the campsite is a decent spot to kick back and relax.
#3 Summertime… is… HAWT. Seriously. It was 85 in SB, 105 at the campsite. The trees offer a little amount of shade and respite, but you’re still talking about blast furnace ambiance. Check your weather reports! The evenings got cool and comfortable, but after triple-​digit heat and no showers… well, use your imagination.
#4 Flies. Bugs. Biters. Two days after returning, I counted 47 bug bits. Then again: nature.
Okay, all that said: the campgrounds aren’t very private, and most of the space is wide open so that many campsites blend into the next. A few (especially in the back) have a little bit more privacy, but not much. It’s very much a tenting site — as opposed to trailers. Somebody else mentioned this as a starter site. In one sense, I can agree, as you’re not secluded and it’s a very laid-​back… but I’ve been other places where you get more privacy AND you can take a shower for a few quarters. I’d suggest the latter for a camping newb. This is a good option if you don’t mind driving around, but if you’re looking for a spot to drop your tent and stay in one place… maybe not.

Great place. Very quite and nice. We camp on Mondays and Tuesdays so it’s hard to say how crowded they get on the weekends. It’s a small campground but you are in the woods and surrounded by nature. They allow fires the fire rings, pets are welcomed. There is no RV dump. Over all a great little camp for $ 20. That’s pretty cheap. This is a good alternative to paying $ 40 and up at Cachuma Lake, it is 5 miles a way from this campground. If you continue driving down the road you will see 4 – 5 other camp grounds in the surrounding area. It’s a great scenic drive.

Horrible experience. Site was supposed to accommodate a 30′ trailer on a back in space. No way would it have worked for more than a tent trailer. Road barely wider than truck and lined with rocks and 2×4 posts. No room to park tow vehicle. Dying oak trees and dry brush. No water flowing. We could not get into space and drove home. Would not recommend except tent camping and then only as last resort. Creepy feel and definitely sub par.

Cute campground for beginning campers. There are some sites that are better than others. The double site is nice. There are more trees to this campsite than neighboring Paradise or Fremont campgrounds.
We stayed at site 34 for the week of Easter break. It was nice, but it rained. Luckily you’re close enough to town to drive. One day we went to Solvang, another downtown Santa Barbara, another day Los Olivos. Cachuma Lake is a short drive from the campground.
There are less bugs and bees here than by Cachuma Lake Campground. The bad part about our site was that it was downwind from the bathrooms. It wasn’t too bad, but I could see how in the summer that could be pretty nasty. We always bring air fresheners with us and that helped out a lot.
Wild turkeys roam the grounds and there are a lot of black caterpillars. As I mentioned before there were not a lot of mosquitoes. I’m a mosquito magnet and only got bit four times.
You can buy wood here for about $ 6 a bundle. There is a store at Cachuma Lake and one as you’re driving up. Both are really expensive and don’t have everything you’re looking for.

had a great time. .very relaxing

We (two families with a total of 4 adults and 4 kids) camped at Los Prietos campground this past weekend. Each campsite has a grill and fire pit, but campfires were not allowed because of extreme fire conditions. (Check the U.S. Forest Service website for alerts and advisories before you go.) No big deal since camp stoves were still okay. Unfortunately, every time we cooked a meal, a bunch of yellow jackets would show up. The bathrooms were clean when we arrived on Friday, but because the camp host was off duty they were not serviced the entire weekend. So, the bathrooms ran out of toilet paper (luckily, we brought our own) and got pretty nasty by Sunday. There are flushable toilets, but no sinks in the bathrooms. Bring hand sanitizer! Be careful walking around the campground because poison oak is everywhere. We stayed in site 9, which was spacious and shaded throughout the day.

People know me for my high heels and penchant for expensive cookies. I like being just so fresh, so clean, and generally take my sangria on a Southern California patio with my ladies in maxi dresses and wedges. Don’t hate. It’s just how I work hard to roll.
But, I grew up in the mountains and camping with my family. I can build a fire, I can build a fort, I can shoot a gun, and I’ll bet I could chop some wood if I absolutely had to. If the apocalypse was upon us, you’d want my tasty cast iron pan skills all up in your shelter making mean ass cowboy stew. Just sayin.
The girlfriends and I decide that we should take a break from our status quo and start a new tradition: Gourmet Camping once a year– and so, the 2014 crew of myself, The Polish Princess of P.O.P., The Master Chef Selary and The Sexy School Teacher took a trip up North for a couple days. We packed the car all by ourselves too. (Keep reading for actual campsite info-​hey, story telling is a camping tradition right?)
The menu? Gourmet indeed. From fire kissed meatballs wrapped in onions over bacon cheese hash followed by marshmallows stuffed with rolos toasted into cookie smores to crepes with blueberries and paninis with mozzarella and spinach: WE dines like the queens of the forest. We made campfire pie oven biscuits and corn on the cob with roasted tri tip stew and mini apple pies.
Our tent was a virtual nest-​we made micheladas and sangria and played card games by lantern light. We checked in Saturday and stayed till Monday AM.
It all sounds lovely, and it was-​except for a few things:
The drought: Not the campsites fault at all-​but it was dry as a bone out there. The allure of the creeks and rivers caused us to make a reservation there-​but they were at least a 5 mile drive to find, a disappointing turn of events. The campsite this dry is very dirty and dusty. Any other time and with more moisture it would have been perfect because of the big oak trees and shade and greenery-​but California just isn’t surviving this situation very well.
Expensive ass firewood. 6 dollars for a small bundle. They don’t want you bringing in outside wood-​so its a racket.
There was a water pump, but no showers, bathrooms were okay. We could smell them though so EW. About 20 miles inland from Santa Barbara so it was in the 80’s and pretty humid-​I dont suggest it at all for summer months.
On the weekends it’s full of peeps, but spaced out. Sunday night caused the grounds to empty and left us alone with just a few other campers. You can still have fires here as of July 2014-​but I expect them to ban them shorty with how dry and crispy it is out there.
Site # 25 is a good location that’s mostly shaded and near the water, but downwind from the bathrooms. This campground is the 3^rd one along Paradise Road and more spacious than the others.
#gourcamping2014 ended up being just ok, kinda like this campground. Next year we might just pitch a tent next to the patio here in SD and call it good-​but who knows? The adventure bug might bite me again. Just like the mosquitoes from this weekend.
PS: those who know me IRL, ask me about the harrowing night #2 titled «Almost Dying In The Forest»

The campground is ok, but not very well maintained. Stayed 2 nights and never even saw the camp host (they didn’t clean the bathrooms at all either). It smelled a bit like sewer and we were woken every morning by a murder of crows cawing from 5 – 6:30am. The neat part was waking up to a flock of wild turkeys though. Sites were spacious and pretty well shaded, but poison oak runs ramped. Would’ve been a better stay if ca wasn’t in a major drought, I think.

Great campground, a really spacious one too. I don’t know what people are complaining about I was there easter weekend, the campground was full and I didn’t even notice. Really beautiful place, bathrooms are average, no sinks though, water quality is really good from the faucets, very clean, a little bit loud sometimes at night but nothing after 10pm. The hosts are really nice, they let us borrow their stove when ours didn’t work. Great place for dogs too. Close to the river, great hiking, scenic drives and 15 – 20 minutes from the beach. If you forget anything there is a store 5 minutes up the road that has all your basic camping stuff and food. Stayed at #14, its next to the bathroom but is spaced not too close, not close to any other sites. Its an average site, not really any privacy compared to some of the other ones I saw.

We stayed here on Labor Day weekend and mostly thought it was great. Beautiful oak trees, lots of shade to put your tent, access to a little «beltway» trail that connects the two different loops at the campground. The toilets worked great, the campsite hosts were very helpful. And I was shocked (!) that not all the sites were spoken for on the Friday night before Labor Day.
Los Prietos offers more privacy than either Paradise (sorry, I thought this was very ugly campsite) and is far more charming than Fremont. Both of these are clustered much closer to the road.
Like most CA State campgrounds, the roads in the campground are potty, the tables and the grills have a beat-​up look to them, but if you want privacy for a small group, head out to the «second loop» aka, the higher numbers. We stayed at site #20 and it was great. #19 is very big but there are some very small sites. The first loop is better for larger groups, is not as wooded and does not have as much privacy.
Also, be sure to pack your trash away! I saw some foolish campers just leaving it out during the day and crows had a field day.
And from LAX, it’s only 115 miles door-​to-​tent!

Last year I would have given this three or four stars but this year there were some small issues. The Campgrounds are great with lovely sites set away from the driveways, 11 and 12 are great sites that you can reserve online. We stayed in 21 which is set back slightly and a great pitch for two tents, you cant reserve it though. if you call in advance there are only certain pitches you can reserve.
Check in should be a breeze only the camp hosts were not there when we arrived. We waited 20 minutes and they still didn’t show so we went and found an empty pitch and set up thinking we would give it an hour and check back. An hour later a young tourist couple showed up in their car with a ticket in hand saying that they had just booked our pitch with the host. I drove down to the host with them to the hosts to fix the problem. At first our discussion with the female host was rather heated, she told me I could not just show up and claim a site you have to check in. I told her I would have if she had been there, then I got the smug look and eventually she got to the real issue of sorting things out!
Long story short, she gave the other couple an empty pitch and we were allowed to stay. So note campers: you cannot just show up and pick a site if the hosts aren’t there, you have to check in first or feel the wrath. Apparently it states that on the sign at the entrance «check in with host» but then it also states on same sign to pick up an envelope, mark your spot, insert $ 20.00 fee and post the envelope in the box. Only there are no envelopes but there is a box? So hosts next time you walk the dog, leave a friggn note — back in 30 mins! it was me and my family you kept waiting not vice-​a-​versa!
Each site has a fire ring and grill, there is plenty of shade and its pretty here. There are also flushing toilets on site. My only complaints were that there was a bad smell emanating from the toilets, we were up wind but some neighbors were downwind and they said it was a pretty awful smell. Also, the running water went off for the second time in a week, that led that no toilets flushed on the site.
We love this place because its close to the river for swimming and fishing, but alas with the drought the river has long since dried up. The closest spots to swim and fish are Falls and Red Rock Swim holes. Most of the camp sites in the area book up on summer weekends and this one would not be a bad choice. If you are looking for watering holes and fishing you need to look elsewhere or go down to the lake. If you’re looking for a weekend getaway from the city, or a stop off point between places in the forest then this is a good stopover. Its a good campsite, but there is lots of competition around worthy of more stars.

Sometimes — it is almost hilarious how people complain about nothing.
Firstly, if you want SUPER REMOTE RUGGED camping go and explore with a backpack and tent on your back and set up camp where you DECIDE.
If however, you want a campground close to the City but far enough out to feel the elements of nature and smell the fresh air of the mountains — this is not a bad place to visit.
Super close to the river as mentioned, beautiful short hikes through scenic little meadows and we saw quite a lot of wildlife: deer, jackals, birds, squirrels and some other elusive creature — cayote maybe? we were not sure.
Anyway– we mountain biked from camp to the old Mine — which was quite a hard ride since it was HOT and there is NO shade.
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and the hosts were super friendly checking in if we needed firewood diligently
I would recommend it — although once outside — it does not take a lot to please me !.

I know there is usually some bad press about Los Prietos, and I agree with most of the sentiments already echoed by Flip C. However, and maybe just because I was surrounded by different people during my 2 night stay, I genuinely enjoyed my stay at Los Prietos.
First, the river access is the best of all of the lower campsites in the Santa Ynez Nat. Rec. Area; it’s only a 5 min walk to White Rock Rec. Area. As already mentioned, the flush toilet bathrooms are definitely a plus, although I’d recommend NOT getting a site near them — the extra walk is worth eluding the stench that emanates from them during the summer. Also, if you are lucky enough to plan your trip in advance, you can snag the sites that do have a smidgin of privacy: 5, 16, 6, 11, 17, 19, 20, and 22.
Lastly, the entire campground is shaded underneath beautiful old oak trees; although terrible for separation between campsites, they at least provide a reprieve from the often hot temperatures during the summer.
Be warned though, unless you enjoy lounging about your campsite all day, check with the forrest service rangers before psyching yourself up for a nice swim in the river. Although it mainly flows year round, in years with drought conditions (like this one), that water is severely curtailed. However, last July (2011), the water was still flowing strong since the winter before that was a very wet one. As a last resort, you can always visit Lake Cachuma or make the drive back into Santa Barbara, which is only 20 minutes away.
Overall, I would recommend a visit if you could snag one of the sites I listed and if the river is running strong. Otherwise, there are better options, although I don’t think Los Prietos is a bad choice if you don’t have too many other options. Personally, I would return.
I wrote a more comprehensive review on my blog
complete with pictures and more in-​depth analysis! The permalink is:

A few weeks ago I went camping again in Los Padres National Forest. We lagged on the planning so all of the usual spots (Fremont, Paradise, Upper Oso) were full. To our delight, a place called Los Prietos still had some available sites. As soon as I got there, I began to realize why.
Los Prietos = HIGH DENSITY. Unlike the other spots’ 14 or 23 campsites, Los Prietos has a hefty 37 sites packed into the same space. The first night, we crashed early and I swear I could hear everything coming from the neighboring camps, including a full on conversation about interesting topics such as: teaching a girl how to use a shotgun, how not to injure your back while weightlifting, and much much more. I got earplugs for the second night.
Another consequence of such tightly packed spaces is that people tend to walk right through your campsite if you’re located line-​of-​sight with the bathrooms. A pair of douches walked by our campsite and rudely told us not to pee on the toilet lids, as if we were the only ones using it. We barked back, they kept walking.
Furthermore, not every site has their own water faucet. We didn’t realize this at first, and were caught by surprise when a couple began using our soap to wash their hands. Thanks.
Finally, be prepared for some uptight campsite attendants that will constantly be monitoring and pestering you.
The only two positives I could think of for Los Prietos are the proximity to the river (5 minute walk) and the presence of actual restrooms, instead of porta-​potties. Unfortunately, if you’re going in the summer season, the river will be all but evaporated =/​
All-​in-​all, I would suggest that you plan your next camping trip well in advance and rent spaces at Fremont or Paradise. Use Los Prietos only as a last resort.