Best Campgrounds Near Oxnard
20 hand-picked camping destinations curated for families visiting REI Oxnard. Each campground selected for quality, scenery diversity, and memorable experiences.
Showing 20 campgrounds
Featured Picks
Sycamore Campground
Top nearby choice for families who want shaded canyon camping with easy underpass access to a sandy Pacific beach; highly rated with many reviews and great options for hiking, playing in the surf, and family bike rides.
Santa Cruz Scorpion
Signature Channel Islands experience with boat-access island camping, sweeping ocean views, and kid-friendly hiking; excellent ratings and hundreds of reviews make it a standout adventure upgrade for Oxnard families.
Wheeler Gorge
Go-to forest-and-creek option close to Oxnard, with big shade trees, a creek-side setting, and a small swimming hole; very popular with families and a great contrast to the local beach campgrounds.
Dogwood
High-elevation pine forest campground near Lake Arrowhead and Lake Gregory, offering classic mountain camping, nearby lake fun, and extensive trail access; extremely well reviewed and ideal for a first family mountain weekend.
Belknap
Spectacular giant sequoia setting with a creek and nearby river, giving families a bucket-list forest experience very different from the coast; high ratings and strong reviews make it a reliable destination for a longer weekend.
Ricardo Campground
Delivers a completely different vibe from the coast: colorful desert cliffs, slot-like canyons, and starry skies; a highly rated, drive-up basecamp that’s great for families wanting an easy intro to desert hiking and bike exploring.
More to Explore
Carpinteria State Beach Campground
Classic family beach campground with wide sandy shores, tidepools, and nearby estuary wildlife; excellent ratings and full activity mix make it a top day-trip or easy overnighter from Oxnard.
Upper Moro Campground
Bluff-top coastal camping above Crystal Cove’s beaches, with strong reviews and excellent hiking and biking right from camp; great for families wanting a more polished seaside weekend a bit farther from home.
Green Valley
Smaller, quieter high-elevation forest campground with easy access to Green Valley Lake for trout fishing and swimming; complements Dogwood by offering a more intimate mountain-lake setting.
Malibu Creek State Park Campground
Offers dramatic rock formations, creek and swimming-hole access, and family-friendly trails within an hour or so of Oxnard; a great non-beach day-trip option with lots of activity variety.
Santa Rosa Island
Larger Channel Island with mountains, canyons, and long beaches, offering a wilder multi-day island experience than Santa Cruz Scorpion; strong ratings and good fishing make it ideal for adventurous families.
Sandy Flat
Lower Kern River camping with a day-use beach and big boulders, giving families a warm-weather river experience that’s very different from ocean or lake trips; heavily reviewed and popular for water play and fishing.
Thornhill Broome Campground
Drive-up beachfront campsites just steps from the surf provide a very different feel from Sycamore’s shaded canyon setting; a highly rated, close-to-home option for families who want to fall asleep to ocean waves.
Redwood Meadow
Another excellent giant sequoia destination with a quieter feel and nearby waterfalls, offering variety within the big-tree experience and strong reviews for its beautiful setting.
Smith Forks Campground
High-rated but lesser-known option where montane desert meets oak woodlands, giving families big views, open skies, and quiet doubletrack riding without a long drive.
Santa Rosa Island Backcountry Beach Camping
Backcountry beach camping on Santa Rosa Island for older kids and experienced families, combining remote white-sand beaches with island hiking and surf-fishing in a truly wild setting.
Coldbrook Campground
Shaded mountain campground with a creek running through it, giving a cooler summer option that’s closer than the high Sierra while still feeling tucked away in the pines.
Canyon Campground
Close-to-home canyon campground across from the beach with access to tidepools, caves, and streams, giving families another flexible Malibu Coast option with strong ratings.
Mountain Oak
Offers a smaller, more relaxed forest setting right across from Jackson Lake, ideal for canoeing and kid-friendly swimming; a nice alternative to the busier Big Bear area campgrounds.
Islay Creek Campground
Rugged Central Coast basecamp near Spooner’s Cove with coastal trails and dramatic bluffs, giving Oxnard families a very different shoreline to explore on a longer weekend getaway.
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