Sage Hill Campground

Sage Hill Campground is a Group Campground. What does that mean? The campsite we reserved (#3 Pine) can accommodate up to 100 people with parking for 10 vehicles (extra charge for vehicle over 10). What a great way to camp. We had a group of over 25 campers and the room we had just at our campsite was super spacious.
The camp site is beautiful and it has some hiking trails.
Bathrooms (2) at our disposal and they flush, lol.
No showers though, but one of our friends brought a portable shower, sweet.
There’s a water station at the center of camp.
The fire pit was also near the center of our camp. We had a great time roasting everything we could roast. From marshmallows, bite size sausages, twinkles, donut and even some rice crispy treats. Lol. The evening was definitely the highlight of camp.
I also used the fire pit and turned it into an Imu. I was prepared to dig a hole, but that fire pit was a perfect Imu. I heated some rocks (took 2 hours) then started layering some banana leaves, then the meats (2 — 5 lb pork butt for my Kalua Pork and 20 Lau Lau packages), top that with 10 corn, final layer of more banana leaves then I covered everything in a tarp and sealed it with rocks and dirt. 8 hours later, we had ourselves a luau. The pit was still steaming when we opened the Imu. Everything was delicious. Yum!
Tips:
*Bring wasp traps or make your own, it’s easy. Google it.
*Close the gate to your campsite at night (or even during the day) it keeps other people from getting in by mistake. A lot of vehicles drove into our campsite until we closed the gate. We had dogs and kids running around, it was safer with the gates closed.
*There are a lot of gopher holes and we did find 2 snakes. Just be careful.
*There’s a common area (for all the camp site) where they have grills and a lot of picnic tables, all under a huge tree
The skies were so clear at night, the stars were so bright. It was just beautiful. With family and friends to share this experience, we all had a great time. That’s why I love camping =)
2015 Review #95

Such a great campground! My first time camping and had the best time. Was with fellow Unilocaler Steve S. and family. There was about 20 of us and the campsite was fantastic. Lots of open space and trees to set up under. Steve S is an amazing cook and kept us well fed. The best part was the Hawaiian lau lau pork and salmon he made in the fire pit. Ask him how he did it. Great recipe/​story!
They have a fire pit in the middle of the campground and a drinking water fountain with a huge basin that will hold buckets. They also have 2 flush toilets with plenty of toilet paper available.
The site we were at was called Pine and we were told it could hold up to 99 tents! That’s how large of space each campground is. There weren’t many people around, but there was another large group across the road from us that we’re rather noisy late into the night. Also we were very close to the ranger station, so park ranger makes a lot of drive by’s throughout the day/​night.
There were a lot of gophers and small snakes in our campsite. Lots of wasps too. The heat was a little unbearable this time of year, about mid 90’s during the day and low 80’s at night. There are some very cool fresh water ponds about a 10 minute drive away to go for a swim. Also Lake Cachuma about a 15 minute drive but unfortunately no human contact with the water there. But a great place to kayak!
Overall we had a great time and was happy to have my first experience camping. Would do it again, especially with Steve S as our host. He’s the best!!!

I’m hesitant to write a review for this campground because I don’t want the word to spread… but what an amazing place! This is a group campsite with four large sites and each one is a gem! We hosted a get together over Memorial Day weekend here with our friends and everybody had a blast! Plenty of space for up to 20 people!
Located near other campgrounds throughout the area, this is one of the only group campsites that allows 10+ cars on site at once. Plenty of space for everyone! We pulled up our 22ft RV and had no trouble fitting it into the large circle driveway provided at each site. NO ELECTRICITY is provided here, but there are several water spigots throughout each site and one large bathroom that has a men’s and women’s restroom on each site. There’s a large eating area with each site that includes 6 – 8 large picnic-​style tables. Each site also has a roasting things (like if you wanted to roast a pig) and a large fire pit. We mostly stayed near this area, as people seemed to wander from the tables to the fire pits and back.
The site itself is near a dry river bed (was probably active at one point, but the drought has made it dry…) that is now a fun place for kids of all ages to play. Our group walked a short ways and found a mud hole! Santa Barbara and the beach are just a short car ride away.
Note that they didn’t have firewood for sale at this location, so bring your own firewood or buy it on the way up. There is no store, so be fully prepared before you get here.
The only downside was we had people constantly pulling into our site asking if they could pay us to spend the night there because they failed to make a reservation. Most were international, but still… kind of annoying to have to deal with this multiple times a day. It may not have helped that it was a holiday weekend, but we made our reservation almost a year in advance. At one point we had the same person drive into our site several times. We solved this problem by closing the gate into the driveway and zip-​tying it closed. That didn’t work for one person, as he cut the tie and came in anyway… But it prevented 90% of people from coming in. I’d recommend closing the gate after everyone gets in and settled.
Make your reservation in advance!

Campground has great groups sites! Our family does a camping trip every year. This year even though it was a dry year we had a great time. We took paradise road to a small creek were all the kids were able to play and jump off some small cliffs. We are a loud family so we wanted a place were we were not going to be told to be quit. Over all great time.
Cons: No Showers or RV hook ups.