River Park RV Campground

I drove from Pismo Beach thinking I could stay here over the weekend and then head back to Pismo on Sunday. I can't believe this is operated by the City of Lompoc, what a dump. I felt unsafe even just driving through let alone staying the weekend. The sign clearly states there is a 21-day maximum stay, clearly, that isn't enforced because it literally looks like some of those trashy RVs have been there for years. Don't waste your time. I would have taken pictures but didn't stay.

Anyone giving this place more than One Star isn't credible.

I plan on writing a letter to the City describing my experience.

The campsites just overlook a deserted field. Not very scenic. There's a nice park with a pond here (small). No reservations. It's first come first serve campsites. All with full hookups. I chose to come in on a weekday because I thought I'd have a better chance of getting a site and it worked out.

Limited biking in and around the park, which was disappointing. But, you can always take the street roads.

Home Depot is walking distance and you can bike to Walmart (which BTW allows overnight RV visits; it was my backup). Overflow dry camping at Ken Adams Park nearby, they told me.

Best part is, I got 5 bars without antenna on my little hotspot (Cricket/AT&T). Didn't need to break out the antenna. Great place to do some work.

Worst part: my bike was stolen. Yep, don't forget to bring your bike lock. Sucks! Guess there were people snooping around the back of my RV, where I hid it, if that tells you something about the place.

We needed a place to stay for at least 3 months. The city of Lompoc owns this park and it has around 20 full hookup sites (30 amp only) and several sites which only have electric or nothing. I'm not sure the cost with those. We paid $200 a week in one of the few long term spots. The City of Lompoc Park Services keeps these roped off until a new long termer arrives. You have to call ahead to get a long term spot. They are very nice and accommodating. The city even offers wifi within the park, you need to go to tech services in the city office building wifi. Very nice to deal with.

The park has recently undergone some improvements. They repaved the worst spots in the park road. It has numerous speed bumps to keep traffic slow. Most importantly, they removed the homeless problem here. Not sure how they did it. Anyway, it's a beautiful park with plenty of acreage to take long walks, fish at the pond, have a barbecue, throw horseshoes, play on swings, play volleyball or enjoy the whole area. The ocean is very nearby.

Long termers, be prepared for ants!

This is a drive in, pick your spot then pay at the self-pay station at the front. $30 for the full hookup sites and $15 for dry tent camping. There is a dump station in the back of the park at $10 for non-campers.

Flat sites, didn't use the water tap as it is right on top of the dump (who knows what hose has touched it), really dirty grounds full of rubbish. Didn't get to check out the showers as they are closed at 6pm.

The best thing about this place was leaving.

Stayed at the River Park in Lompoc for one night on my way up the California coast.

The sites are flat, level, and big enough for the big rigs. There are no pull throughs. RV sites have full hookups ($30/night). My rig is tiny, so I camped in the tent area. My price paid ($15/night) reflects the tenting price.

Now the good: the RV park is well maintained, tidy, and is attached to a park with a pavilion, grassy fields, a fitness park, playground, etc. Most sites, even those of semi-permanent residents, were tidy, too. It's spitting distance to the beautiful re-built La Purisima Mission State Park.

The not so good: through the night "muscle" cars cruised up and down the campground, revving through the speed bumps. I found this annoying, though tolerable. On weekend nights you can expect to see some partying. But the kicker, for me, was waking up at 4:30AM to blasting bass music. I opened my curtains and a car was parked near the entrance all doors open, blasting (and I mean blasting) rap music with all their lights on. A person in all black repeatedly exited and entered the car. This went on for a good half hour without interference. I never saw the camp host or resident park ranger, though the sound was far too loud to escape notice. After a half hour the car sped multiple times through the campground then (mercifully) left.

I have a pretty high tolerance for sketchy campground behavior, but this one got even my heart racing a bit.

So, in summary, the park was affordable and acceptable for a one night stopover, but I can't imagine returning.