Twelve miles southwest of Los Olivos, Lake Cachuma Recreation Area provides fishing waters for trout, crappie or bass from the 42-mile shoreline or a boat. Bring your own boat or rent one on-site, with rental selections from kayaks to luxury patio boats. More than 400 campsites have camping for tents or RVs of any size. Full or partial hookups are available at 130 sites, as well as a dump station. Flush restrooms, hot showers, drinking water and sites with picnic tables and fire rings are provided. Swimming or other sports where your body contacts the water are prohibited at the lake.
Hike through meadows of wildflowers or camp under tall pines in the Figueroa Mountain Recreation area just a 30-minute drive north of Los Olivos. Fourteen trails totaling more than 50 miles provide plenty of areas to hike, mountain bike or ride a horse. Four campgrounds provide rustic facilities, including fire rings and picnic tables at each site. Vault toilets are also provided. Winding mountain roads leading to the area make it unsuitable for large RVs and long trailers. Camping is only allowed in designated sites, with areas for backpacking camp-outs in Birabent Canyon alongside a creek at Ballard Trail Camp.
Enjoy breathing the sea air and hearing the ocean at one of several beach campgrounds. At Jalama Beach, 109 campsites lie along the beach or overlook the ocean. Electricity is available to one-third of the campsites at the beach. Gaviota State Park's campground lies along Gaviota Creek at its confluence with the Pacific Ocean. No hookups are provided, but you can enjoy a campfire ring and picnic table at your site. Flush restrooms and showers are situated at either end of the campground's loop. The campground at Refugio State Beach lies directly on the beach. There are no hookups or showers at this campground, but restrooms, a camp store and extra parking is available on-site.
Water is not available in all campgrounds. Figueroa Campground is the only one in the Figueroa Mountain Recreation Area that has water spigots. Pack in your own water or bring a purification kit to use water from area creeks. Fires are only allowed in designated campground fire rings at each campground. Reservations are recommended at beach campgrounds during summer months, although a few spaces are available on a first-come, first-served basis at each. The beach campgrounds lie near railroad tracks with high-speed trains running by several times a day. Watch children carefully and use only designated tunnels and crossings to reach the other side of the tracks.
