River Park

We pulled in to camp and the Off-​Highway Vehicles racing in the Santa Ynez riverbed (a run for the endangered species Steelhead Trout) right behind our site kept us up until 3am. We left the next day and won’t be back.

Spent the night in the RV park. Although quiet time starts at 10PM the party next door lasted until midnight so appears there is no park patrol. RV site strip borders a farm and loud machinery started making passes next to us at 6AM. $ 30 per night + pay showers.

My wife and I were tricked into bringing our family here for a get-​away. We probably didn’t do enough research, but there aren’t many reviews available online, and the photos of the park are extremely deceptive. I’m writing this with the hope that someone won’t repeat our mistake.
First of all, the Santa Ynez River is dried-​up and has become an ATV trail. If you’re hoping to enjoy some water fun, go elsewhere. We drove the length of the park in the spirit of open-​mindedness, hoping that the park would redeem itself, but it didn’t.
We saw:
— A row of 35 motor home/​trailer spots at the park’s entrance
— 3 tent-​camping spots, overgrown with weeds
— «Kiwanis Lake» which is really just a happy little man-​made pond with a fountain in the middle
— A sad rusted swing set and further back in the park lies an odd looking jungle gym
— Random bbq pits
Tree roots and irrigation pipes have heaved-​up portions of the road, so the risk of bottoming-​out constantly looms.
The pond is the only nice thing about the park. For what it’s worth, we thought the park could do much better for itself if they allowed people to camp in tents around the pond.
The camp host is named Paul and he’s a nice man, but the trailer people there gave us the unsettled feeling of midnight rape & guns. And, the 3 tent spots were extremely sketchy. I felt dirty driving back there. This is definitely not the place for family fun and we didn’t stay here.
After leaving, we struck-​up a conversation with some friendly locals of Lompoc who laughed at our attempt to plan a family vacation at River Park. They said we should try Jalama Beach or Lake Cachuma instead. In the end we went to Lake Cachuma and had our nice family getaway.