Rancho Oso RV & Camping Resort, Santa Barbra, California
On our way to Rancho Oso, I dropped Jackie and the car off in Pismo Beach for a couple of days and continued on to the campground alone. The road into the campground is very narrow and in places impossible to pass oncoming traffic. I was fortunate that no other RVs were driving out as I was driving in. I’ve heard a couple of horror stories about the entrance road. Not only is it narrow, but there is a substantial drop off on one side. I would recommend not pulling a tow vehicle in case you need to back up. However, once past the entrance road, the campground is really nice. Lots of full hook-ups with easy back-in sites on a tiered hillside. Apparently, there is a lot more to do here than your standard RV campground. There is horseback riding, a bucking bull, and stock dog demo on Saturdays, pygmy goats to pet, wine tasting and more. There is really quite a list of daily activities. The ranch also has a family pool, a lap pool (not heated or at least not enough for me to jump in) and a hot tub for six. With very poor cell service on both AT&T and Verizon, the campground has added cell boosters to help, plus all the other outdoor games you expect at a camping resort. The internet is free, but is satellite internet and is frustratingly slow and is only available in the adult lodge. It’s good for checking emails, but not much more. Also, 30amps seems to be the max power here. They do serve meals on the weekends, unfortunately, I arrived on a Sunday afternoon. I regret only booking three days here. We’ll have to come back again.
Historic RV Camp in California
2016 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Winner!
Beautiful scenery and endless recreation are the building blocks of this pristine RV camp in California. Spend a day horseback riding and hiking along our wooded trails, or relax by the fire in our unique cobblestone lodge. For true tranquility, visit our beautiful swimming pool or hot tub. With over 310 acres, Rancho Oso RV Camping offers the perfect outdoor getaway with a Western flair.
Rancho Oso RV & Camping Resort features several types of campsites. No RV? No problem. Stay in a cabin reminiscent of an Old West building or a covered wagon beneath the stars. A 30-minute drive to nearby Santa Barbara or Solvang offers scenic views the whole way. Book your Rancho Oso RV Camping trip to enjoy authentic RV camping today!
Because I don’t have Internet and am alone for the first part of our visit here, I have some time to share the handout with the Ranch’s history:
The human history of Rancho Oso stretches back 3,000 or more years to a time when all Santa Barbara County was inhabited by a tribe of Native Americans called the “Chumash”. The Chumash of the Santa Ynez Valley were a peaceful group of hunter-gatherers who hunted mule deer and rabbits and gathered native plants, roots, and acorns. The Chumash who may have numbered 20,000 or more, had villages throughout the Santa Ynez Valley, coastal regions, and even the Channel Islands off the coast. During the summers, the Chumash of the valley would travel to the coast where they fished and traded baskets and pelts for shellfish and ornaments.
Rancho Oso was the home of a substantial Chumash settlement. There are several known ceremonial and burial grounds on Rancho Oso, one located in the campfire circle of the campground’s “tent section”, the other located to the south of the Welcome Center/Ranger Station. While many small artifacts can be found on the grounds, please do not dig in these areas for artifacts. Desecrating archeological sites is against the law.
The Chumash continued to inhabit the Santa Ynez Valley well into the 18th century. Most succumbed to smallpox and syphilis brought to them by Spanish missionaries. Today, there are fewer than 1,000 Chumash left. The tribe now operates the Chumash Casino and Hotel in the nearby town of Santa Ynez. An excellent Chumash Indian Hall may be seen at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara, CA 93105.
From Mexican Land Grant to U.S. Property
In 1845, a parcel of land which included what is now Rancho Oso was granted to Jose Dominguez by Pio Pico, the Governor of Mexico. This land, called Rancho Los Prietas y Nagalayegua, consisted of 48,728 acres. At the time of the land grant, the first known building was constructed at Rancho Oso. The building, now popularly called “the Flores Adobe” is located near the Welcome Center/Ranger Station. It is now used as the Resort Operations office.
Because Rancho Los Prietas was considered rugged mountain land of little value, Jose Dominguez never bothered to have the title of the property confirmed by the land commission. In 1865, the property was acquired by Thomas Scott of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1866, he obtained an Act of Congress securing title to the land. However, by this time, settlers had already occupied the southern portion of Rancho Los Prietas. These settlers refused to leave and claimed “homesteader’s rights.” A lengthy legal battle ensued between Scott and the settlers. Fortunately for the settlers, quicksilver interests north of the mountains proved so profitable that Scott agreed to a new southern boundary and grants were issued to the homesteaders. In the late 1800’s the property passed through several hands, eventually returning to the U.S. government.
E.W. Alexander’s Ranch
Edward W. Alexander was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1869. Both of his parents came from prominent Detroit families. In 1899, he married Henrietta Lydia Ladd. For ten years Alexander owned the Alexander Umbrella Works, one of the largest manufacturing plants of its kind. After selling the umbrella works, Alexander became associated with Newton and Annis Furriers. Alexander also became a close personal friend of Henry Ford.
Alexander and his wife moved to Santa Barbara in 1922, where he represented Ford Motor Company in the Santa Barbara area. EW Alexander bought a 310-acre portion of what had been the vast Rancho Los Prietas. He became prominent in Santa Barbara life where he served for a time as Chairman of the City Harbor Commission.
Alexander’s holding in the Santa Ynez Valley was widely known as the “E.W. Ranch”. In 1926, the U.S. government issued Alexander a patent for his ranch, which is now known as Rancho Oso. A copy of the deed is on exhibit in the Adobe Office and Stone Lodge. The area surrounds E.W. Ranch was declared Nation Forest land, today part of America’s largest national forest, the Los Padres National Forest.
Alexander used the Pavilion as a cabana for a large swimming pool, which was located directly in front of the Pavilion, but was later filled in with dirt and landscaped with a walkway that leads from the Pavilion to the Stone Lodge Patio.
During the years 1910-1920, Santa Barbara, not Hollywood, was the center of California’s growing silent film industry. The famous Flying A Studios were located in Santa Barbara. Many silent film stars such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were regular visitors to the E.W. Ranch, where they lounged at the pool, ate steaks in the Stone Lode, and put on impromptu skits by the Pavilion.
Another friend to the Alexanders was the famous cowboy artist Edward Borein. Borein was a frequent guest at the E.W. Ranch. He painted the cattle drive scene on the fireplace mantle in the Stone lodge. Borein had attended a barbeque at the ranch in the 1920’s and offered to paint the mantle. Borein jokingly said that he would paint the mantle in payment of the beef h consumed. Boreing would paint only a foot or so of the mantle during each visit, claiming that his slow progress would assure him a good beef on future visits. Unfortunately, Alexander died in 1933 at the age of 64, and the ranch was sold before Borein could complete the mantle. The mantle was restored and scenes on its sides completed by a Santa Barbara art historian in the 1960’s.
At the time of his death, Alexander was Chairman and Vice President of the County National Bank. Three years later, Henrietta Alexander sold the E.W. Ranch to t. Paul Dalzell.
From the T.P. Ranch to Rancho Oso
T.P. Dalzell was born in 1890 and came West, moving to Los Angeles in 1920, then to Santa Barbara in 1922. He formed the Puritan Ice Company and later organized the California Lettuce Franchise. He renamed the E.W. Ranch to the T.P. Ranch and developed a strain of Morgan horses here that won him many honors. Like other ranchers in the valley, Dalzell also raised cattle.
In the spring of 1946, Dalzell sold his T.P. Ranch to General Jacob McGavock Dickinson. General Dickinson owned an Arabian horse breeding farm in Tennessee. In August of the year, Dickinson moved his family and sixty of his prized Arabian horses to his new ranch, which he named “Traveler’s Rest Ranch.”
General Dickinson, who had purchased the ranch when California was verdant green from winter rains, was horrified to discover how dry Southern California became in the summer. After a year and a half on the ranch, Dickinson packed up his prized horses and returned to Tennessee. His family, however, remained in Santa Barbara.
In 1949 General Dickinson sold the Traveler’s Rest Ranch to M. K. Duryea, who named the ranch “Rancho Oso”, a name the property has retained ever since. Rancho Oso means “bear ranch.” Duryea did not keep Rancho Oso for long.
Rancho Oso’s Strangest Owner
M. K. Duryea sold a 10-acre parcel of Rancho Oso, which included the Stone Lodge, to the Church of Christian Philosophy in 1951. The leader of the strange church was a minister chiropractor, and a well-known magician named Dr. Leaf. The Reverend Dr. Leaf used the Stone Lodge as his home and died there in 1959. He was feted with a large magician’s funeral in Los Angeles.
The Jamison Era and Beyond
M. K. Duryea sold the rest of Rancho Oso to Jay Jamison in 1952. Jay Jamison passed away later that year, leaving the property to his widow, Madelyn and his son, Robert.
Robert “Bob” Jamison renovated the building which is now the Adult Lodge for his family to live in. He constructed a log cabin atop the mountain, which is now the manager’s residence. Bob and his wife, Barbara, had four children at Rancho Oso. In recent times, son Jay Jamison has served as a popular manager at a Thousand Trails resort.
In 1959, following the death of the strange Dr. Leaf, the Jamison’s acquired the ten acres that had belonged to the Church of Christian Philosophy. This restored Rancho Oso to its former E.W. Ranch boundaries. Rancho Oso remains 310 acres today.
The Jamison Family ran cattle on Rancho Oso in the 1950’s but with the completion of the dams at Lake Cachuma and Gibraltar reservoirs, the Jamison’s opened Rancho Oso as a children’s summer camp. Soon, the decision to open Rancho Oso as a “fun ranch”, a Western heritage that has now been restored and enhanced with the addition of the Western Village cabins, covered wagons, and thirty guest horse corrals.
The Jamison’s built the barn, bought horses and began taking guests on trail rides. Rancho Oso became widely known throughout the country for its breakfast trail rides. The Jamison’s also added two swimming pools, a campground (currently the tent section and river sites) and a trailer park.
The Jamison’s and their family lived at Rancho Oso for over 30 years, finally selling their beloved ranch to American Trails in 1984. American Trails was purchased by NACO West in 1986. In July 1996, the final payment was made to the Jamison family and Rancho Oso became wholly owned by Thousand Trails, Inc. In 2008, the Thousand Trails properties became owned and managed by Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc.
The Western Village Guest Ranch
With the arrival of John Stanton, Rancho Oso Manager for 1992-1995, the guest ranch concept became a reality. Five rustic bunkhouse cabins, ten covered wagons, and a beautiful restroom were built in a meadow at the front of the preserve. Corrals for visiting horses were added later, and people from all over California began to discover the uniquely wonderful destination that was created for friends, families, and horses. The Rancho Oso Stables now offers guided trail rides on a string of gentle horses.
Over the years, Rancho Oso has hosted many individuals and groups including scout troops, church groups, riding clubs and private school classes.
We arrived Pio Pico on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. The campground is split with full hookups, 50-amp sites and all of the facilities on one side of the road and no septic 30-amp sites on the other. Well, of course, one side is more desirable and was full when we arrived, so we had to choose a site on the side of the road without septic and only 30 amps. The site we picked wasn’t bad in itself, but it was over a mile to walk to the adult pool. To be fair you have the option to sign up on the “cross-over” list. Each morning the available sites are posted at 8:30 for you to view, at 9:00, first on the list has the first choice and new sites are assigned to the members wishing to make the move. The temperature reached 94 on Thanksgiving Day, so it was good that we elected to move so that we could run both AC units. We also met new friends after the move so despite the hassle it worked out great. 
