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Cuyama Badlands

99%

· California

164 acres

14 sites

4 Lodging

5 RV/Tent

5 Tent

If you've ever wondered what it might be like to camp on the moon, this is it. Completely removed from civilization and surrounded by a barren nature that is alive with the subtle presence of the universe. Seasonally, Spring wildflowers burst across the landscape. Cave paintings of Chumash Indians remind us of those who lived before us. This is where the deer and the antelope play. Our Carrizo Camp is surrounded by the Carrizo Plains National Monument. This is truly a get away from it all camping. The preconfigured trailer will sleep two and the site is provided with water and fresh bedding for each booking. That's it. You, the coyotes and your own private moon. Our Songdog Camps are sparsely scattered atop a 200 foot mesa that looks west over a valley offering stunning desert sunsets. Our Lodge, Ranch House and Glampsites are available on occasion. This is our home but we love to share our life in the outback. We believe it will give you a better appreciation of life's simpler side. There are two sites where RVs are welcome. This land was sparsely populated by the Chumash Indian and is evident by the numerous cave painting that remain here in the Caliente mountain. In the era of the California Missions, this land was a part of the Spanish land grants. Currently the property is privately owned and is adjacent to large sections of publicly held lands.

Activities

Biking

Hiking

Horseback riding

Off-roading (OHV)

Natural features

Cave

Desert

Forest

Canyon

Available sites

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Location

California, United StatesTo respect the Host's privacy, the precise address of this land will be provided after booking

Hosted by Jim R.Joined in August 2015

Response rate: 100%Response time: Within 2 hours

99%

2287 ratings · 1570 reviews

Stephen G.recommends

January 5, 2023

Site 1 - Songdog East Campsites

Great campsites, so helpful to have fresh water available. Toilets were spotless.

Tyler L.recommends

January 3, 2023

Site 3 - Songdog East Campsites

Must Go!

Absolutely gorgeous land! Was a pleasure staying here and can’t wait to come back to try the other amazing campsites!

Carol P.recommends

December 25, 2022

Site 4 - Songdog West Campsites

Jim is always an amazing host. We’ve stayed with Jim in the past and it’s always a 10/10 experience. It’s safe, clean and all the campsites are easy to get too. I recommend his glamping sites as well!

Blake W.recommends

December 25, 2022

Draw Camp in the Far West

Serene and Pretty

Excellent site. Jim clearly puts a lot of time into maintaining and beautifying his property. The boys and I had a blast here; highly recommend.

Indigo F.recommends

December 6, 2022

Site 1 - Songdog East Campsites

We were the only campers on the east tent sites during the night we reserved! It was wonderful to be alone with only the stars. Thankful for the isolation, flat tent site, fire pit with grill, nearby water, and pit toilet. Self-pay firewood for $1/piece was helpful. Signage and the directions to the site could’ve been clearer. Wish I could’ve met both of Jim’s dogs, only met the German Shepherd when we were getting firewood!

Janine M.recommends

December 6, 2022

Wagon Camp site

Silence and stars

This is an exquisite property, secluded in a stunning landscape. Jim has curated each of his sites to give the outdoor enthusiasts unique experiences. Jim and his dogs Jill and Gypsy are warm and welcoming, ensuring his guests have the best possible experience. This was our second Thanksgiving at SongDog, and it won't be the last.

Jennifer Y.recommends

December 3, 2022

Glamp Tank site

Site is a bit hard to locate but Jim was kind enough to explain the steps in finding the silo. For future hip campers — do not proceed down the road especially if you have a car that is not lifted. Jim left supplies at the camp site for cooking and wood burning. I did have to leave early due to an emergency and Jim gave me a voucher for my next stay (which was nice). Overall, I would recommend the camp site just make sure you do your research before arriving (ie, read the directions given and maybe check the air in your tires).

Michael C.recommends

November 28, 2022

Site 4 - Songdog West Campsites

Loved camping at SongDog West. Driving up onto the mesa was super cool, great 360 degree views of the valley and the spots are all spread out enough where you don't feel like you're on top of other campers. The bathroom (outhouse) was very clean as well. I'll definitely be coming back here.

Sarah M.recommends

November 26, 2022

Glamp Tank site

Songdog is the perfect place to re-charge. The Glamp Tank site is private with all the basic amenities included. Watch the sunset over the mesa and enjoy the stars and campfire once the sun dips in the west. Jim is a gracious host and any of his sites are highly recommended!

Asha L.recommends

November 25, 2022

Vintage Glamp Trailer

LOVE this place !

This place is heaven!!! I couldn’t love it more. Jim is just the BEST! So lovely! It’s such a unique place with tons of camping spots nestled in different areas. My dog loved it, and had so much space to roam freely. Definitely recommend!!!!

Jill E.recommends

November 22, 2022

Site 3 - Songdog West Campsites

For the dogs!

For the dogs!!!! I’m a dog mom. And my two huskies LOVE SongDog! We get to roam and practice off leash skills. They absolutely LOVE it. ❤️ Jim is super friendly and accommodating. We adore his hospitality. We’ve made several memories at SongDog. I can’t recommend this place enough, even though I want to keep it quiet for ourselves. 🤷🏼‍♀️☺️ five stars. Hands down. The best peace and quiet you’ll get.

Simon K.recommends

November 22, 2022

Glamp Tank site

Great Last Minute Getaway

Beautiful campsite! Jim was very welcoming and was. A pleasure to talk to. The campervan was great I had a beautiful night under the stars. Complimentary firewood and camping supplies were amazing too! Friendly dogs to top it off!

Chris O.recommends

November 21, 2022

Site 4 - Songdog West Campsites

This property is beautiful. I’ll be back again, next time for longer.

Susan S.recommends

November 21, 2022

Site 1 - Songdog West Campsites

Very wonderful get away

We love this spot! A true getaway under the stars. A wonderful short ride from Santa Barbara in an almost zero populated area. Fairly rustic but for true camping experience a delight!

Brandon S.recommends

November 20, 2022

Site 4 - Songdog West Campsites

Solo night at site #4

Showed up a bit late to appreciate the view, but site (#4) was incredibly clean and was able to set up easily. Come morning, walked around a bit and was amazed. Jim came up with his 2 noble steeds to greet and see how things were going. Great hospitality, will be back for sure.

Kara S.recommends

November 17, 2022

Draw Camp in the Far West

Another great camping trip

Fourth year in a row camping at Songdog. We love Jim and his gorgeous rugged ranch. A great secluded get away. We love that we never have close neighbors. Outhouses are well kept. And the campsites have everything you need.

Richard T.recommends

November 13, 2022

Site 1 - Songdog East Campsites

The property is vast, beautiful, and private. We enjoyed making memories at Songdog! See you again soon, Jim. Thanks for your hospitality.

Tarik B.recommends

November 13, 2022

Site 3 - Songdog East Campsites

Go See Jim!

Such a great experience. I usually opt for open camping on public land during my Cuyama Valley exploits but opted to try out Jim’s place during this last minute decision to get outta the city and enjoy the mountain air — and I’ll definitely be coming back. The spots are conveniently built out with roofed dining areas, fire rings, toilets nearby, and even came with a couple chairs! He’s graded really nice dirt roads so just about any passenger vehicle can navigate the property. I showed up at night without reading the directions i was emailed (oops) and ended up giving myself a nice tour of the property before caving and calling Jim. He kindly came out, greeted us, and pointed my nose in the right direction. Can’t wait to go back.

Beverly T.recommends

November 7, 2022

Site 2 - Songdog West Campsites

It was my second time camping out here and it was just as enjoyable as the first! Water and firewood are easily accessible, there is a fair amount of distance between each campsite, and the stars are amazing to see at night. We were even able to catch a few shooting stars in the dead of the night

Rachael G.recommends

November 6, 2022

Songdog Double Fire

We very much enjoyed our time at Songdog Double fire, the campsite was nice and large an easily accommodated the 11 of us! The pergola with picnic tables was clutch, there were lots of random hooks and nails for us to hang lanterns from. All of us had very good cell service at the site, not that we needed it but was nice to have for the occasional update with the family. The site felt secluded from others and outhouse was sooo soo nice, quite a luxury to have!! Just a note it is a shared outhouse, thankfully it was only our site so we didn't have to share with others! The owner stopped by he was very nice and accommodating, recommended us to walk up to the bluffs for a view, its a beautiful landscape. His dogs visited us in the morning as well, they are very sweet. Last we heard coyotes in the distance but no visitors, although a tarantula did make its way through our site midday, that was interesting haha. It was such a nice site, easily accessible from LA we will be back again!

Merrill W.recommends

November 5, 2022

Songdog Glampout

Last time was 40 years still the best ride and accommodation great!

Victoria L.recommends

November 2, 2022

Draw Camp in the Far West

A Halloween Getaway

This is becoming one of my favorite spots to get away to. This was my 2nd stay at Draw Camp and my 3rd overall stay at Song Dog Ranch. I will be back with friends at Thanksgiving staying in the Yurt. I strongly recommend heading out to the Cayuma Badlands to check out Jim's place, Song Dog Ranch!

Paul O.recommends

October 23, 2022

Draw Camp in the Far West

Always great.

I've lost count of how many times I've stayed at Songdog. 4 or 5 I think. It's fairly close to home (less than 2 hours drive), wonderfully remote, generally, reliably peaceful. I love Songdog. However. This most recent visit, on a Sunday, I was sharing the mesa with only one other party but unfortunately they felt compelled to loudly blast electronic dance music late into the night. I fired off my car alarm so as to give attention and say "hey I'm over here, trying to sleep, maybe you missed me" but little happened. Another sleepless night, alas. In planning my trip, I was hoping to escape such noise that I have to daily deal with at home. I work night shift, so finding restful sleep is a challenge but the jerks in the West Camp #3 the same night I was there really messed up my desperately needled quiet and relaxation.

Zoe T.

October 18, 2022

Site 2 - Songdog East Campsites

Not for all dogs!

Songdog Ranch is beautiful. My wife and I went for a little getaway with our dog to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. After reading so many glowing reviews, we were so excited! One big note I would mention for anyone with dogs that are sensitive to noise: throughout the night there were mysterious "booms" heard in the distance. They happened on repeat about every 15 minutes. They sent our dog into a panic so we got no sleep, and unfortunately had to pack up early and leave to calm our dog down. There was also another campsite near us that had about 8-10 guys partying and were blasting music past midnight... which also made it hard to sleep. Overall, the setting was really beautiful and the campsite is set up with everything you need. I wish we were able to have a more peaceful time. I just wanted to share about the noise for other dog owners of noise-sensitive pups (such as fireworks, gunshots, etc..). Usually our dog loves camping but he was in a panic attack the whole time :(

Ryan F.recommends

October 16, 2022

Vintage Glamp Trailer

The grounds were clean and welcome as Jim equipped the site with some cooking materials and a jug of water. A little trail through some sand and rocks with a dip into and through the dried up creek bed to get to this site. Secluded and plenty of space for our two dogs to run around and explore without coming in to contact with out campers and their pets. Saw Jim hiking across the main road in the morning. Water tank next to the trailer was a nice refreshing touch! Highly recommend to anyone looking for a large, clean, and well equipped site to explore.

Jose B.recommends

October 15, 2022

Songdog Glampout

Great glamping!

Great host, we showed up when it was dark out and he was on the campground patrolling and directed us to our site. Will definitely go again with a larger group!

Dwayne V.recommends

October 10, 2022

Site 1 - Songdog West Campsites

We stayed in site West 1. Spectacularly beautiful setting. Huge campsites and very clean grounds. We would stay there again in a heartbeat!

Kaichi Y.recommends

October 8, 2022

Site 1 - Songdog West Campsites

Amazingly clean and quiet camp site!! Would definitely come back again!!