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Nira Campground is a beautiful site covered in oak trees and located along Manzana Creek. Whether you come to cast a line in the river, camp and relax, ride horses, mountain bike or hike, Nira offers a scenic location with a variety of recreation activities.
Along with hiking, mountain biking, fishing and swimming, Nira Campground is a great starting point for backpacking and deer hunting expeditions into the San Rafael Wilderness. Located on Manzana Creek just upstream from the mouth of Davy Brown Creek, a trailhead provides access for various trails up and down Manzana Creek that enter the San Rafael Wilderness.
While tent camping is best enjoyed in this cozy campground, there is room for small RVs under 20 feet. Nira has 12 campsites, each site includes a picnic table, barbecue grill and/or a fire ring. Sites 1-3 are tent and car camping sites only (no RVs due to size restrictions). There is a vault toilet in the campground. There is no drinking water at this site.
Nira Campground is surrounded and shaded by oak tree- covered mountains. Whether you're a beginner in the art of birdwatching, or an experienced birder, Nira will not disappoint. A bounty of birds such as king-fishers, juncos, Stellar jays, white-breasted nuthatches, warblers and many more flourish in this section of the Los Padres National Forest.
The Manzana River runs through the campground where swimming and fishing are favorite activities. The trailhead for San Rafael Wilderness is easily accessible. Los Olivios, Santa Ynez, Solvang and Buelton are all within a one hour's drive.
To get there from Hwy 154: Armour Ranch Rd./ Happy Canyon Rd. 11 miles northeast to Cachuma Saddle, Sunset Valley Rd. 6 miles north.
Not sure of the amount of camp sites but they seem to have no privacy. All sites are under trees but look like they are very close to one another. Each site comes with a table and fire pit. No running water. Vault toilets.
Best car camping campground near Santa Barbara. Do not expect any amnienties expect the vault toilet... Also a great strating point for San Rafael Wilderness hikes.
My all time favorite car camping go-to spot in all of Southern California. Takes an hour and a half to get to from Santa Barbara on (mostly) paved ranch roads, and it is deep in the backcountry. However, it is a popular campground, especially on long holiday weekends.
Manzana creek is seasonal, and between Memorial Day and Thanksgiving the water is largely unpotable except in the wettest rain years. However, it is a jumping off point for true wilderness backpacking.
We stayed Friday and Saturday night last weekend. The campground is in very poor repair. Our campsite had a broken cooking grate on the fire pit and no small charcoal grill, we had the post just not the grill. Our table was alright but many of the picnic tables were broken or rotten. The dumpster was overflowing and people continued to pile trash outside of it, both unsightly and dangerous for wildlife and potentially campers. The women's restroom was out of toilet paper by mid day Saturday and there was little left in the men's. We paid $30/night for us and an extra vehicle, $60 total. We chose to stay at Nira over Davy Brown because DB campground was in worse shape. We are fine with paying to camp and often camp in state parks. The difference is that the state park campgrounds are in good shape and well looked after. We didn't see any Parks Management Company employees the entire weekend, no one to service the bathroom, no one to address the trash build up, and no one to check to see if people were paying the correct fees. Where does the camp fee go? It certainly doesn't appear to go back into the facilities or to hire staff.
A nice REMOTE campground. Be warned if you are expecting all the amenities in normal campgrounds, there is no running water or ranger station near by with firewood. The road on the way up is one lane, narrow, and part of it is unpaved getting there is not meant for all vehicles. Other then that it is a nice campground with great hiking trails, really takes you out of the city. I recommend this campground, but do come prepared if not a seasoned camper.
