Earl Warren Showgrounds — Local services in Santa Barbara

Participated in the Santa Barbara National Multi Breed Horse Show 2018. My first visit here, and I liked the barns, and the nice wide spacing in between. The stalls are solid in construction, a real positive ... the dirt floors are very uneven, so if used as a tack room, you may need to have dirt brought in to fix. The dome arena, cracking flags everywhere, and white lattice fencing were great teaching opportunities for my newer show horse. I did stay at their RV park, and was very unimpressed. The 'on-site' manager was never there, and never responded to my call when I arrived. The lot is VERY sloped, in two different directions, so spaces 27-37 aren't really useable if you need to get level for your fridge to work. And there is only one shower stall down the hill, by the wash rack bathrooms, very little water pressure. The more level spots are difficult for a longer rig to enter/park/exit. RV park reservations are only done on line. With the drought, the grounds are very dusty. There is a nice golf course next door to the grounds, and beaches within a few miles! The grounds are convenient for easy...

This is our second time staying at Earl Warren Showgrounds. When we stayed here last year, we got what we expected: A no frills place to spend the night.

It’s a Walmart-esque parking lot with power and water. Nothing impressive, but it wasn’t advertised as anything other than a parking lot so we were OK with that.

However, this year we came back, we were extremely disappointed. The spot we were assigned wasn’t remotely level, and it was 50 feet from the doors of a dancehall that had LOUD music blaring until 11 PM. The music was so loud that the base reverberated our RV. No way we could sleep through that. Since the parking lot was overpacked due to the party in the Dancehall, it was VERY difficult to back the RV in.

The restrooms were dirty, trash on the floor, no paper towels.

The shower was closed indefinitely for maintenance (we tried 3 separate days). We were never able to use the showers while we were here.

The dumpster has no lid on it, many RV spots were within 10 feet of a dumpster.

We rented an RV site to sleep, it would’ve been nicer (and quieter) to park on the side...

This review is for the RV park on the Earl Warren Fairgrounds. Santa Barbara is one of my favorite places to visit. Unfortunately, there are very few RV parks. Thankfully, Earl Warren is affordable and close to the city and beach. Susan manages the park and is incredibly nice and accommodating! She has worked with me to make my last two stays pleasant. If you are looking for a groomed retirement RV park, this is not it. It is a parking lot at the fairgrounds. But if you are looking for a safe, clean, quiet RV spot with no freeway noise for a great price, this is it in Santa Barbara. I will definitely be staying here...