SANTA MARIA ELKS LODGE, SANTA MARIA, CA

Our Opinion: Recommend. The nicely landscaped and convenient lodge makes a great stopover for traveling Elks. Private you must be an Elk to stay here.

Date of Stay: March 19th, 2009.

Weather During Stay: California coastal springtime. Lows in the 40’s, highs in the 60’s.

Sites: Ten W/E sites (30 amp) are along the west side of the parking lot in the back, with another 13 FHU (including cable TV) sites in a separate area on the south side of the lodge .

The FHU sites (top photo) are very side, with a picnic table at each site. Lots of grass around the area, and some trees. Sites there are a little sloped.

We stayed in a W/E site, which had fewer rigs. These sites are reasonably wide and very level, on asphalt. A wide strip of mown lawn runs behind the sites, and there is a group of 4 picnic tables under a cover at one end.

Rate: $25 FHU, $20 W/E, $10 drycamping. Convenient dump (third photo) is available behind the lodge (get the key inside).

Phone/radio/TV: Strong Verizon phones and aircard signal. No obstructions to block TV satellite in the W/E sites. Trees might be a problem for roof mounted satellites in the FHU sites, but they provide cable TV. We didn’t bother with the TV antenna. Local NPR on 90.1, news and music.

Elevation/Landscape/Terrain: Flat, level parking area. I didn’t check the elevation, but it is probably no more than 500‘ or so. Views of local residential neighborhood, lodge, parking lot, and Hwy 101.

Lighting/Noise: The night lighting in our W/E site was unobtrusive. Didn’t check the FHU sites. Noise… well, the lodge is right off of Hwy 101 (see the view of the parking lot and Hwy 101 from our site in the last photo). Lots of highway noise during the day, but it didn't bother us at all at night once we closed the windows.

Favorite Sites: Except for the difference in the W/E vs. FHU, all sites are essentially the same. We would make our selection based on the number of rigs on site and how long we intended to stay.

Hiking/Walking: We didn’t get out at all; it was a short stopover for us.

Comments: This is a very convenient location for traveling Elks. The lodge is attractive, with lots of green lawn, trees, landscaping and plenty of paved parking. Very clean, convenient dump station.. A much-better-than-average Elks RV parking area in a small (population 91,000) city in a pretty, hilly, agricultural area. We saw all the standard shopping nearby as we came up Hwy 101.