Santa Barbara Sunrise Rv Park

This is a tiny park in a small city — understand that much and you will have no issue. The owners are hands down the sweetest most accommodating humans that you will come across — they will take care of you and actually care about what your needs are and what’s going on. Be a good driver and navigate into a tight spot, then greet your neighbors and then Lyft or Über to the nearby shops, restaurants, bars, museums, beach or whatever. This place is clean, convenient and limited which offers exclusivity — I’ll take that any day!

We wanted to be close to downtown so we made reservations at this park. The owners are friendly but instead of giving verbal instructions on the details for entering their park, they sent an email that I did not receive. The park entrance is immediately off an «off ramp «from busy highway 101. We entered at the Office sign only to learn we entered the wrong «alley». The space is VERY narrow. We had to unhookthe tow car and drive the RV around the block and enter the correct «alley» to park. The exit from the site back to the freeway is impossible with a tow vehicle. We have a 36 foot class A RV and would gave been forced to drive into the «off ramp «of highway 101 inorder to enter the «on» ramp to the highway. Too dangerous so risked getting a ticket and crossed a double yellow line to go around the block and enter the freeway correctly. I would not recommend this site for anything other than small trailers. A class A without a tow car might be ok. The sites are very shallow. Also appears to have long term «guests»

When you think of Santa Barbara you think of beauty. This park was not at all what our vision. It’s all gravel and no amenities. The view out of our front window was a neighbors messy back yard. The sites are sandwiched in and no place to really enjoy a night. Cars from over RVs are parked behind yours or to the side making it hard or impossible to get out when you want. We had a neighbor who made us wait 30 minutes before he would move his vehicle. I would not suggest this place unless you are desperate to park. Owners are very nice!

Good little RV park in downtown Santa Barbara. Stearns Wharf and State Street is about a 5 minute drive up (or about an 8 dollar Über). We stayed two nights and went to Solvang and downtown Santa Barbara. It’s ideal for location if your looking to explore the city. The park is managed by a husband and wife who were so nice and helpful. We’ll definitely stay again for our annual trip to the area for its ideal location. They advertise it as it is. A small RV park close to freeway, but everything else.

You’d be better off in a random parking lot for the night than blowing $ 70 here. Never again. Now I can see why their website show actual real pictures of the sites. Completely deceiving site map which makes the park look amazing. Wished I had checked Google Maps satellite view before arriving. First it has the worst set up for entry and exit. Sites are super duper tight. And they are right smack next to the sound wall to the 101 – so LOUD! Other side there are small houses literally butted up right onto the property. People in there yards are staring right at you. The PULL THRU sites are a joke! If you have a large fifth wheel, hang it up. Tightest spots ever. They are right on top of each other. All the lots are gravel rocks, not a patch of grass… only cement is next to bathroom. The Bathrooms were tiny and not clean. There was one for men and one for women. Total joke. It was like the most random RV park I have ever seen. Wedged in a residential neighborhood literally next to the 101 highway. Sound wall does nothing. I do not recommend staying here unless you are in an absolute pinch and are only staying one night. If your RV is average size, you might be ok. If you have a huge fancy fifth wheel, keep driving and find somewhere else. The park is impossible to get in and out of and the pull thru sites are an absolute scam. They might as well be back-​in…

Horrible place park manager is an absolute jerk. Too many other quality places in the area with better hospitality

Worst of the worst. If you like the smell of toilets or the noise from a highway go here! Otherwise try to find another spot.

We have stayed several times at this RV Park. It is a small, urban park within Santa Barbara City limits. The owners, Debbie and Terry are super nice and make reservations and check-​in a snap.
We have found that many of the RV Parks we have stayed in have «attitude» on check-​in and reservations. The park restroom and laundry, although older, are the cleanest that we have seen in our RV travels. This park is perfect if you are visiting Santa Barbara. The park is located in a residential area next to the freeway. It is a very short car ride to the beach, State Street shopping and restaurants, and also the Coastal bike path which is an excellent bike path. There is also hiking in the area.
Also worth mentioning is that the sites are pretty level, hookups are easy, in excellent working order and close by. Most sites have a concrete pad and an adjacent picnic table that is not broken and is clean (unlike the state parks).
We were initially confused by some of the reviews. We found the surrounding neighborhood and park to be completely safe. The park is a «family» park and the prevailing attitude is friendly and relaxed. Both my other half and I are light sleepers, and true there is some noise from the freeway, but we were easily able to sleep just fine.
Smaller, private RV parks in urban settings are very hard to find. This one is a gem and we have it on our list of parks we will use at least several times per year. Enjoying the comforts of our RV, close to all of the nice things that Santa Barbara offers for $ 60 per night is an excellent bargain.
I would also note that there are obviously some really nice State Parks close by the Santa Barbara area, however, they are all on Reserve America with the «7 month book on the 1’st of the month at 7:55 AM» drill that we are all so familiar with. For us, this park has been able to accommodate on bookings even in the busy summer months.
Please note that the park has a total of 33 spaces. The small size contributes to the overall relaxed, close in, urban style of this park. If you are looking for a park that it is in the mountains, has a pool and hot tub then this is not your park. If you are looking to see the sights in the Santa Barbara area, this is a excellent one of a kind small urban park. We wish there were more of these as they are hard to find.

Oh, how I wish I could give this park a better review, b/​c they totally helped me out and got me in a few days earlier than my reservation in the middle of July, and the managers, Terry and Debbie, are THE BEST. BUT, the park is just okay. WAY too small of spaces for the price you pay. No picnic tables, no fire ring. We couldn’t even bbq b/​c I’m not kidding when I say I could reach out and touch our neighbors’ rig. Really tight and really no privacy at all. No green area, just gravel. We had about (I’m not exaggerating or kidding here) 6 inches on either side of us when our slides were out and our neighbors’ slides were out. No way we were putting our awning out or our chairs or rug. REALLY noisy freeway noise. The neighborhood isn’t the best, but it was no problem for us. GREAT Mexican food down the street! I gave it 3 stars, 2 for Terry and Debbie and 1 for location. It’s a really great location — very centrally located. Although you’re not walking to the beach from here. But the owners need to wake up and realize that people need SOME space.

We love this little RV site! We have camped in a lot of places with our travel trailer which is only 12ft, but the location is amazing with regards to accessing downtown Santa Barbara. I have read some comments about the neighborhood, but I always felt safe (just because the site is located in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood, doesn’t mean it’s a bad neighborhood or someone is going to steal your tour bus of a motor home).
The site is directly off the freeway, so there is highway noise during the early morning hours; but that doesn’t bother me since I live in a city.
The managers are super nice and very helpful. If you are visiting SB for a couple to few days, this is a great spot!

This is a perfect representation of the, problems in Santa jBarbara. The prices are dirt cheap and it shows. Still they are too expensive for the crap you get. Once speaking to the manager and he said most were from foreign countries. It books quickly near major local holidays like Fiesta and Solstice.
Two stars for the manager. He tries to be aware of everyone and helped us solve a problem when a drunk group of English citizens who entered our mobile home park instead and hit a car here so badly the insurance wanted to total it. The ignored this and kept attempting to leave although they clearly were intoxicated and admitted they never had driven an RV

RV Park reviews are always a bit difficult to gage since so many are based around Wi-​Fi or other issues totally unrelated to «camping». However I’ll give it two stars (now at one star for reasons noted below) for the cleanliness. That’s all. The freeway, although with a sound wall between the park and the 101, is loud, make that LOUD!
I can smell the neighbors breath. Too close to each other did I say? Although I must say this seems to be a fairly common complaint at RV parks in general. By parking off the pad we were actually able to have a little room.
Location is everything they say, and this location and lack of any security makes on a bit nervous. The neighborhood uses this park as a public walkway. Plus how would you like to live next to an RV park that has month long tenants.
I will say the management does what they can. Will hold nothing against them. (Edited, see below) But you can’t always make lemon aid with rotten lemons.
We understand now why they have such a restrictive cancellation policy. No one would stay!
UPDATE: when we decided to leave this park a day early it was painfully obvious they had seen the previous review. «Good» was the managements comment when I told them we were leaving early and «Better yet» when I told them we hadn’t slept the night before due to the freeway.
I also forgot to mention they are a member of the «Good Sam» Camping Club but they refuse to give the Good Sam discount!

I’m giving this review 5 stars because of the friendliness & professionalism of the parks management, cleanliness of the facility and overall value of accommodations. The managers here are awesome & very attentive to the needs of their guests. The grounds are well maintained, the bathrooms are clean & private, the laundry facility is convenient and the location of the park is relatively close to the the beach (about a 5min drive or 15min bike ride). Although it is located in a neighborhood & next to the freeway that didn’t bother us at all. The locals were very friendly. At $ 200 a night for a hotel room in Santa Barbara this a great alternative. We will definitely stay here again!!! Thank you Team Santa Barbara Sunrise RV Park for making our stay AMAZING!

I stayed here a couple years ago and it was a «so-​so» experience as you can probably can tell from the reviews a couple years back, but since the new managers have taken over it has really turned around! The bathrooms, showers and the park in general are 10x cleaner than I remember. The managers are just more involved than last time I was here which has made quite a difference. I’m lookin forward to our next stay in January.

The Santa Barbara Sunrise RV park is a great, cost-​effective place to stay right near downtown Santa Barbara.
Debbie was really gracious, accommodating and flexible regarding my reservation, which I really appreciated. They were having the sites re-​graveled when I was there, and she gave me all the details re: the work schedule so I knew when I could drive in and out and not get blocked in by the work that was being done. The bathrooms are clean, and I like the fact that each bathroom is its own private space. There’s a laundry room as well.
The RV spaces are close together, but it seems like that’s the case at almost all RV parks these days. This is not a woodsy RV park with trees and a campground-​like feel, and it is right next to the freeway. (The RV park is separated from the freeway by a high wall to help a bit with noise.) But the freeway, although a bit loud, was just white noise to me, so I didn’t mind.) And I was just looking for a low cost place to stay near downtown, not necessarily a campground atmosphere or experience, so it was perfect for my stay.
I’ll definitely be staying here again!

This park is small and compact and doesn’t offer anything other than a clean place to stay in your RV when you’re in Santa Barbara. It’s not expensive, and it’s convenient to the freeway and it’s close to downtown SB. It’s not a place to go and hang out and look at the view, but it does let you enjoy downtown Santa Barbara. The people who run it are wonderful.

We stayed here for a brief one night stay, on our way up the coast. The camp hosts were so helpful and pleasant upon check in. The manager even helped us pull into our spot. :) The bathrooms and showers were also very clean and well kept, which is nice for those who need to utilize them. The distance to downtown and the beach are in pretty close proximity, but the actual neighborhood that the park is located in, is very questionable. I never feared for my safety, but I didn’t want to go out of my way for a dog walk or a jog. The price is steep at $ 70/night…but it does beat any Santa Barbara hotel nearby. There is no view, just a nice big wall that separates us and the 101 freeway, which was a bummer.
Ultimately, I am deducting two stars because of the location, price and view.

Great little spot to stay for a couple of days. Hosts were very friendly, clean bathrooms and showers and the area is close to downtown and beaches. Little neighborhood store right up the street that sells everything from coffee and pan dulce to hand saws and pantyhose. Will definitely come back and stay here.

What nice park hosts!
I visited this urban RV park over a weekend in April 2013. The new park hosts (Terry and Debbie) were absolutely wonderful. I have a used 32′ motorhome that I just bought and it was my first time taking her out and hooking up. It was quiet when I arrived so Terry was kind enough to show me around, help me get my rig leveled and hook up. I was traveling solo so having Terry help me was a big help.
The park is very clean and well cared for. The toilet and shower were convenient and everything worked well. The park is right by the freeway and I read about that in other reviews, so I was prepared with ear plugs and slept like a baby. There is road noise during the day, so just be prepared.
You can’t beat the location as the only place I found that’s convenient to downtown State Street. I brought my bike it was about a 7 – 10 minute bike ride to lower State Street. I did go for a run along the waterfront and that was convenient leaving right from the park (about 5 miles round trip if you run towards Montecito and then over to State St and back).
There is a small bodego up the street, but it’s mostly a residential neighborhood all around. The spaces are adequate and fairly level, there is on-​site laundry. Each spot had a picnic table and hookups were right there (used 10 – 15 ft hoses for my rig).
If you’re looking to be close to the action in downtown, this is a great place to stay. If you want quiet and secluded, I wouldn’t recommend Sunrise. It’s definitely urban, but super convenient if you have a car or bike to all the great restaurants, beach and shopping on State Street.
Santa Barbara has amazing weather and is one of the most beautiful spots on the Central Coast (no wonder it’s called the American Riviera).
I’d stay here again.
Hope you have a great visit, too!

This is located in a great spot fairly close to downtown and the beach. Both are walkable, though NOT right next door. Wear your sneakers! The park is very accessible, right off the 101, with nice sized spots and full hook ups. We easily parked our 34-​foot class A with no trouble. The staff is awesome!
Ok, so a lot of people complain about the freeway noise and the trains. Yes, it can be noisy because it’s RIGHT on the freeway and near the train tracks. Suggestion: close your windows, run your a/​c, and you won’t hear it. Property in Santa Barbara is VERY expensive, with the average home price over $ 500k, so you can bet an RV park is not going to be located on prime property. Nonetheless, the park is in a convenient location, well maintained, and run by very friendly folk.
This is NOT like Newport Dunes, but then again, it doesn’t cost $ 300 a night for a parking space! The price is reasonable for Santa Barbara.
It’s not a beautiful park in any way, with little greenery and it IS in a part of town you might not want to walk about in, especially at night, but it’s the only park in Santa Barbara.
We stayed here for two nights in September and are staying again for three nights this spring. The only reason I didn’t give this park 5 stars is I didn’t use the restrooms, so I don’t know what they’re like. Based on the staff, I’m sure the restrooms are fine.