Upper Oso Campground

Beautiful campground with amazing views. Nice camp host, clean campground snd nor a lot of noise. They have nice fire pits and charcoal grills. Most spots are huge and have large shade trees. Warning: it gets super hot here in June through summer. Like 104 degrees, but it's very cool at night and it cools off fast once the sun goes down behind the mountain. Not a bad campground at all but it does need some updating. The bathrooms aren't bad but the toilets leak some and need maintenance. I realize it's federal property and parks always get their funding cut but the toilets need to be fixed given how many people are in the campground. Otherwise the restrooms are clean and nice. There is potable water and it's easy to wash dishes and other things. Also the camp host leaves Large jugs of water out so you can put out your fires when done. They need more signage to keep the motorcycle riders from driving across the campsites. And park service should give tickets or warnings. Also, starting up motorcycles at 7am is just wrong! Luckily there wants very many but they are loud. Camp host or park service should establish rules on this that are clearer and get repeated by campsite staff. We had a great time! And the stars are amazing at night from up here.

Good trip, we stayed 4 days. No one bothered us. The host were available any time we needed them. The restrooms were kept stocked and relatively clean. Faucets are nearby throughout the camp for access to water. However there are NO showers at least we did not find any. We managed without. River is dry. There are swimming spots available nearby, a short drive.We saw a snake, not a dangerous one. Good amount of shade in most of the spots we saw, plenty of parking for visitor.

I had a great experience camping at Upper Oso campground this past weekend (August 2013) while visiting Santa Barbara. The campground hosts were very friendly and helped us locate our camp site and provided us with everything we needed to know about the campground. The camp area (ours was #17) was very large and close to our car and bathrooms (which was much cleaner than what I expected with flush and paper toilets!). Outside the bathroom, there was drinking water. Surprisingly, we even had cellphone reception and 4G in the campsite! Most of other campers were families and hunters. We didn't see any animals other than squirrels and birds, but we saw that hunters had found a deer. At night, the weather was in 70s and hundreds of stars were visible. With a short hike, you get to see a beautiful panoramic view of Los Padres National Forests (see pictures). The paradise store was about 15 mins of driving away from the campground and it had everything you need as well as delicious breakfast tacos (and also lunch and dinner). The campground itself is about 30 mins away from Santa Barbara and the ocean!

I just came back from Upper Oso Campground and I am highly disappointed. I've been coming here for so many years and it seems like it's just getting worse. Apparently the adventure pass doesn't work in this campground and the host insisted that it could be returned but it definitely wasn't. They have their own set of rules. The host doesn't help and is not professional. I am aware that she is given a set of rules that she needs to follow. My father and husband got into an argument with her-yes she ended up being correct and I accept that but we were not aware of those rules. I agree that my father and husband were in the wrong and should not have acted that way. The thing that bothered me the most is that she was telling the other campers about it-that's not professional there is no need to be discussing that situation with other people. Also it's hunting season and more than half of those people are hunters. Yet she didn't want them to hang their trophies which is something that is commonly done. Ohhh and don't get me started on the restrooms. I know they are public and many people have to share them but in all the years that I've been there I have never seen them that badly maintained. They are smelly and dirty. Other hosts were on top of that-we all pay a pretty penny to be there the least that you can do is keep those restrooms clean!

A couple of weeks ago we returned to Upper Oso.There were 3 of us and we could not wait to experience the same wonderful time as before.Unfortunately in our 3 day stay the restroom was NOT CLEANED ONCE.The toilet paper ran out the second morning and was not replaced. Thankfully we are seasoned campers and always bring a few rolls, but who knows what other people had to do ... leaves, grass ???? The environment is the same beautiful rugged little spot but it did not seem to have the same maintenance as before.

A nice calm campground. We went in the summer and we didnt have anyone too close to us. Bob the campground host is quite the character and very nice dude. The red ants were kind of annoying but the beauty of the campground squashed that. TIP - go swimming at RED ROCKNEGATIVE - the noise of ATVs at the campground... COME ON GUYS WE ARE IN PEACEFUL NATURE VRRRROOOOOOOOOM

We came here 6/24/16 to 6/26/16. DO NOT STAY AT SITE #20 OR #21. Those spots have no shade during the summer and it's scorching hot as of 9:30 am and on. The best spot in my opinion is space #23. Lots of shade, large area and close to restrooms. Of course there are lots of mosquito's but if you rub some (classic scent) Skin So Soft oil from Avon on you and/or your pets then you will be fine.Also take some vinegar and water (mix half and half in spray bottle) and spray before you set up to keep ants away (there are red fire ants in some areas). You can drive toward red rock for swimming holes (red rock trail head), nice to dip into. I did no know this till my last day. No showers, bathroom isn't too clean but not filthy... just smelly.All in all this is real camping, and very nice location... even better if you have an RV, but we didn't. Little to no cell reception too.DO NOT LEAVE FOOD OUT... always put food away when meal time is over to prevent bears. Oh and if your pets get full of prickly stuff GO TO THE WATER HOLE! They come right off and your pet will be so much happier.

Not being a "nature girl" at heart I truly enjoyed myself here!! Great campsite nestled in between majestic mountains everywhere you look during the day & under beautiful twinkling stars at night. Just a beautiful place! The bathrooms were stinky & dirty. They needed to be cleaned more than once a day.

We had a blast! Very end of the road/last camping area so kids could ride bikes safely and trails begin right from the campground. Tons of wildlife, kids found tadpoles, butterflies, a gopher snake, lizards, etc. The bathrooms suck but we had an RV. The camp host was super chill and maintained the grounds great. We will definitely be back. Please keep in mind that there are no showers if you are tent camping.

Very nice place with plenty of space to set up camp. Stayed for 3 nights mid July. Weather was hot but not unbearable, red rock is a great place to visit if you want go cool off with a swim. Keep in mind that you will need to pay $10 for parking at fee areas around the national forest. Keep cash on you to avoid a citation. (They do check to see if cars have paid). Road leading to upper oso is not the best and there is a flash flood crossing that has loose rocks, low cars or thin tires can be easily damaged. Bring plenty of water and have a place to store food away from wildlife.