We’re staying in a pretty unique campground here in Santa Barbara. Well, actually, we’re about 23 miles north of SB up through the San Marcos Pass, down into the valley, onto a narrower road along side the Santa Ynez River then up a 1 1/2 lane road around curves so tight that they need mirrors so you can see what’s coming at you. Then down into this bucolic valley with horses grazing, kids playing and the sun shining brightly on the hills on the other side of the river.
Originally, as was true throughout the West, Native Americans lived in this area. The Chumash, who might have numbered more than 20,000 when they lived in the area, were hunter-gatherers and rotated between the river and the ocean to find what they needed to live. When the Spanish came, they brought with them diseases which the Chumash had no resistance to and many succumbed.
Over time, several people claimed this land but homesteaders slowly but surely moved in and became the owners. Then in 1911 Edward W Alexander, who represented Ford Motor Company in the SB area, bought a good part of this land, got a deed from the US Government and began to build on the land. He built a Stone Lodge which he used as a hunting lodge and as a weekend retreat. (Note the sandbags, we’ve had about 6” of rain in the last 2 days and there is running water in many places.)
His original deed still exists and is framed in one of the buildings on the ranch. He had many guests, such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton visit him here. The fireplace in the Stone Lodge has some etchings around the mantle done by Edward Borein. ‘Borein jokingly said he would paint the mantle in payment for the beef he consumed... and claiming that his slow progress would assure him of good beef on future visits.’ (from Laurie Spaulding Russell's 4-page history of Rancho Oso.
When Alexander died the land passed through many other hands until it landed in the hands of Bob Jamison, who turned it into a guest ranch with horses and trail rides and added an RV park. There are pastures for the horses.
Here are some ‘cabins’ you can rent if you want something a bit more elaborate than tent camping.
The history of Rancho Oso is a much longer saga that I’ve related here but suffice it to say, it has had many owners before Thousand Trails bought it in 1986. We certainly have enjoyed our stay here though, I’ll have to admit, we didn’t have time to explore it all. They serve breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, they have a steak or tri-tip dinner on Saturday and spaghetti on Friday. They give trail rides, they have ‘stagecoaches for you to stay in - they even have a teepee to stay in, and, ss I mentioned in a previous blog, we did force ourselves to make it to the Sunday Ice Cream Social. Note how I am dresses - it’s not all sunshine and warm weather here in CA. Oh yeah, one of those ices creams is Gary’s.
We chose this campground because it is within driving distance to visit Santa Barbara with its museums and attractiona, Solvang with its Danish heritage and those bakeries, got decent reviews on the RV campground review web site (I always check this), and has some accessible hiking.
Several days ago, we traveled a road along the ridgeline of the mountains above the resort and happened to see the campground from above. When I zoon in, I can only see the mat outside our door since a nearby ridge and a tree are in the way. But in this wide frame picture, you can at least get an idea of the setting. The campground is the light colorer section in the middle of the picture, with the burned out brown hills in back and the pristine green shrubs in front.
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