CAMPING:
The recommended choice for camping is Wheeler Gorge Campground, located on the North Fork of Matilija Creek on the Maricopa Highway in the Los Padres National Forest. To ensure a campsite, I recommend booking online as soon as possible. Rates start at $25/day (2020).
Another option is Dennison Park, a Ventura County-operated campground located a few miles east of Ojai. It is the least expensive at $22.50/day (2020) although it does not have a creek.
The third option is Camp Comfort, another county-run campground located on San Antonio Creek on Creek Road between Ojai and Oakview. Camping runs $45.50/day on weekends (2020).
LODGING:
We can highly recommend one very special and unique lodging experience tailored to our Herb Walks attendees who like nature and the outdoors. It’s the Sespe Wilderness Retreat House on Sespe Creek in Rose Valley. Their website does a better job of showing it than my words can express. Rondia and I have stayed there and it’s amazing.
We’re also proud to be associated with Casa Ojai Inn which offers Herb Walks guests a 15% discount. Just tell them you are attending one of Lanny Kaufer’s Herb Walks events. FYI: They are one of the few places in Ojai that accepts pets (for a small additional charge). There is more affordable but still nice lodging at the Oakridge Inn in Oakview, about 5 miles south of Ojai. They are more likely to have rooms when Ojai proper is sold out and they offer my guests a 10% discount.
For a stylish stay, we recommend the The Blue Iguana Inn and the Emerald Iguana Inn. As with anywhere in Ojai, the sooner you book, the better. These two places are extremely popular. Larger, more conventional motels along Ojai Avenue (Highway 150) include Hummingbird Inn, Capri, and Chantico Inn. And the Ojai Valley Inn is the world famous, premier destination resort of Ojai for those who like the finest.
You can find a full selection of accommodations at the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce lodging page.