Thousand Trails Rancho Oso

Beautiful scenery and the unique opportunity to go horse back riding on a trail with a guide! Make sure to make reservations for your ride at least the day before. Laura and Alexis at the barn and stables were very friendly and knowledgeable. The horses were well taken care of and very well trained. I've never heard of campgrounds offering activities like horse back riding, so this campground really stands out. In the barn you can also go see other animals like goats, pigs, and bunnies if you're not keen on riding horses. Either way, I totally recommend the horse back riding experience and staying here! We had an amazing time and would love to visit again in the future ✨

Nice big quiet beautiful Thousand Trails campground. About 1/2 hour from Solvang and Santa Barbara. Laundry facilities are outside and require quarters. Staff are not helpful in helping you obtain quarters. No change machine on site. Horrible cell and WiFi. Nice scenery and setting. Lots of barnyard animals. Friendly staff. Be Aware: (Men at Work 🎶 reference…)If you’re 6’ 4” and full of muscle, like me, you can’t ride the horses 😢. There’s a weight limit.

This is a typical thousand trails campground. Sites are first come first served. This was our second visit to Rancho Oso. The drive in is a winding road not meant for nighttime. Of course we arrived at night... The place is very dark at night. The sites are back in and with the darkness it is super hard to navigate the tight turns and park. It was also hard to follow the map to get to the old section. The map shows you going through the dump!!! Arrive during the day!!!!! We stayed in the older section that does not have sewer. The sites are very nice with lots of shade and trees. They are much nicer than the much smaller sewer sites on the hillside. The restrooms were clean and big with a special handicapped bathroom perfect for my daughter or anyone needing a wheelchair. We were mostly visiting relatives but did find time to go horseback riding. Had a great time although they arrived late to our session. The campground is huge and really has a lot of activities. It is well kept up with everything looking like it was just built they do an excellent job on maintenance. Much much better than other TT campgrounds. Cell service is very spotty so don't plan on having it. I'd love to give this five stars but the lack of light at night makes it too unsafe to arrive after dark. A few well placed lights especially near the few rows that have culverts or trees would be appreciated. We arrive at other campgrounds at night and have not seen the same issue.

It was kind of a first come first serve when it came to RV spots which was nice. Staff at the front gate immediately tried selling us a membership before we even pulled in. It was very very hot. Make your horse riding reservations before you even get there. It books up very fast. The pool. Where do I start. No one monitors the pool. Ever. The rules are very clear at the pool. Common sense rules. Every day there was dogs, glass bottles, alcohol and food. I even heard about a near drowning of a 2 year old during the 4th of July weekend due to the mom being too under the influence to properly take care of her child. The pool was crowded and kids running. I was just waiting for someone to slip and fall. I spoke with the store employee and she said there wasn't enough staff to monitor the pool and if I saw a problem to go to the start of the park and call a ranger. She stated that the other thousand trails have someone watching the pool, but they don't have the staff. Even after talking to the store employee and making my concerns known on the first day we were there, I never once saw a ranger and we were there for 4 days. The worst. My husband took my 9 year old daughter to the bathroom. Waited outside and while she was in there a couple,a man and a young woman came out of the bathroom together. Maybe he was just changing or maybe something worse, I can't take that chance with my daughter. The bathroom next to us was not kept up either. 2 out of the 4 days it was not cleaned. It showed and was obvious. I can definitely say I'm glad we did not sign up for a membership and we will never go back to this site.

I don't know how this place is still open, but by the looks of it and all the staff layoffs it won't be for long. The cottages are filthy, spiderwebs, cobwebs and dead flies in all the windowsills. Rotting and collapsing decks. The facilities have gotten more and more run down over the years. There's literally nothing to do but sweat in the 100+ degree weather and swat flies away. Only neat things are the wild turkeys that will wander up to you.