Open year-round and located in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, within the Los Padres National Forest is a nice day-riding OHV area. There is a campground available by reservation at only $20.00 per night. Day day-use fee is $10.00 per vehicle.
The riding area consists mainly of bush-lined trails/roads that make their way up the many off-shoot canyons of Ballinger. The riding/driving surfaces are sand, dirt, and gravel, with steep hill climbs and wash-like roads at the bottom of the canyons. We found the difficulty of the trails to be determined by the erosion cuts down the roads toward the far eastern side of the park. If you’re looking for rock crawling, this is not the spot, but I could see it as a great place to teach beginners how to use their 4×4 options.
You’ll find all sorts of vehicles enjoying the area. The day we spent there, we came across UTV’s, ATV’s, Motorcycles, pick-up trucks, desert race cars, and of course, 4x4s like Jeeps. They have vault toilets, picnic tables, and flat areas for day-use parking. It seems like a great place to take the family riding.
The park can be found off State Highway 33, 3.5 miles east, and is located at the end of Ballinger Canyon Rd (FS 9N10).
Besides the campground in the park itself, there is a private campground called Song Dog Ranch up on the ridge before the Park; their campground sits on the plateau above the canyon.
