El Capitan State Beach Camping Grounds

Stayed at this campground a couple weeks ago and had a blast! I didnt expect it to be that great due to the lack of Unilocal stars but the restrooms were clean, beach was nearby, campground quiet time enforced, and camp hosts drove around once a day to offer wood, which is great in case you run out! I would definitely stay again! If you plan to frolick around the beach make sure to pack some baby oil or a product to remove tar because it is pretty gooey down there!

A beautiful place its a shame that it is run so bad. The board with the avaliable spots had not been updated for two days so the Ranger told people they had to move. The maintenance is bad Information is bad.
The only help was a volunteer named Steve he was great he goes above and beyond.
When you reserve a spot online there is a good chance it will be too small
I won’t be going there again.

Your camp spot is always critical but no campsite I’ve been to where this is truth than El Capitan! Book early and do not get a campsite bordering the 101. We had 74 and it was 2 sites from 101 but still horrendously loud it felt like you were under a busy I-​5 underpass. There are trees and bushes so you’re not completely exposed to the 101– but you wouldn’t know it based on the noise. The ones closer to the ocean are obviously key but they are very open — exposed and some on what looks like a concrete parking lot. This said, the grounds and bathrooms are clean and showers were hot. We left early because smelling and hearing the 101 for all that time was numbing. This was also coming from our Big Sur experience which was amazing, quiet and by the river.

Quick overnighter with the Dolphin.
Ranger was cool, site was clean. $ 45 bucks is worth it, the surf was good and not crowded.
Only bummer is the freeway noise is heard more than the sound of the ocean.

This campground is beautiful! Definitely a high ranking one for me.
Campground was clean and plentiful of trees and it looked amazing if you had a spot next to the cliff that oversees the ocean. Each camp spot is spacious and provides plenty of room.
Bathrooms were for the most part, clean. The hot water was a plus! Showers costed 25 cents to operate for 2 minutes.
There are plenty of paths to take to get down to the beach/​tide-​pools which was awesome!
There’s also a lot of wild life, from blue jays to an assortment of furry critters. At night, make sure you keep your food in the car because those raccoons are sneaky, smart and they move in packs scavenging for food.
On our last night, we heard noises that sounded like a rattling can outside of our tent which spooked out my girlfriend. The next morning, we compared the sound to various animals that were also known to be in the area, we came to the conclusion that it was a bob cat or a mountain lion. So watch out for those !
The employees there are kind of mono toned and rude. I felt like I was bothering them every time I went to renew our pass.
Overall, I really liked the El Capitan campground. It was my first time and it was a memorable one. We will definitely be back!

Awesome beautiful place to camp. However the camp host we experienced over this last weekend was extremely rude. It was just past 8pm when we heard this FBI type banging on our RV door. I go to the door and there stood an older lady demanding I turn my generator off. She then stated that generators could not be run past 8pm. Sorry I did not know I will turn it off. Now this is a built in generator in our motorhome. This is not some Harbor Freight loud thing. So then I look up the rules online and sure enough generator hours are 10am to 8pm quiet hours are 8am to 10pm so although you couldn’t hear the generator you could hear everyone’s music and their conversations and carrying on. As they should it was new years eve and we were all there to enjoy the experience. Then the next day I see her going around to peoples camp sites not introducing herself as host and looking in their cars to see if they had the parking pass. Okay not a big deal. Then you see her actually looking in their vehicle to see what was in there. She was totally being nosey. Other things that got me were no dogs on the beach. I don’t know it seems like these places are here because of tax dollars let it be used by the people. Probably wont go back.
Oh one last thing way to many tents in RV spots. They should be reserved for RV’s because RV’s can’t go in the tent spots. Okay I am done.

I hope to clarify some of the other reviews.
1^st, the main con: You will hear freeway noise even if you are close to the bluffs.
You can walk between El Cap and Refugio but the bike path is closed. We did the three mile walk and back just a week ago, leaving in the morning. Perhaps at other times the rangers may stop you but it can be done. Sometime the future, the bike path will fall into the ocean.
Dogs are allowed but there are rules: not on the beach, on a leash and in your tent or RV overnight. Dogs are not inherently bad but some owners are: we were at Goleta/Sand’s Beach and earlier in the day, and a Docent had to ask someone to take their dog off the beach as it was distributing the nests of the snowy plover, an endangered species.
The campsite is very quiet, and probably not the place for you if need to «party» into the night.
We did not hear the other campers at all, and that was nice.
The bathrooms are not great but serve the purpose. The showers still take quarters for 2 minutes.
One of the reviews seems to for Ocean Mesa which is a private campground on the inland side of the freeway, and is a walk to the beach. El Cap State Beach is on the Ocean side on top of bluffs, and an easy walk to the beach. Some people I know like Ocean Mesa over El Cap but if want to be on the beach stay here.
We went on a Friday in December, and two of the loop were closed. Still the campground was only 15% filled. Cold but not unbearable.
El Cap, Refugio and Gaviota State Parks are off the ReserveAmerica system in the winter months; El Cap is first come first serve ¹²⁄₁ to ²⁄₂₈ I believe. CARPINTERIA SB, CA seems to be on the Reserve America system year round.
This not tough camping but still it not for everyone. I for one appreciate having this campsite run the way it is.

I have been camping at El Capitan State Beach for 18 years now with my family we always have a great time at this camp spot I understand that there are skunks raccoons foxes sometimes even a mountain lion it is because we are in their territory I understand that sometimes the bathroom water might be too hot or that it smells it’s a bathroom. No one’s poop smells like strawberries people!
If the camp host here are giving you a hard time it’s because you’re not following directions.
Being with family hiking biking surfing kayaking fishing roasting marshmallows singing by the campfire sleeping all cozy that’s what this place is about everyone complains about necessities this camp ground does not offer then stay home or go to the Ritz Carlton!

I am so disappointed in El Capitan. We had to watch our every move for fear of being ticketed or hassled by the camp hosts or rangers. You can’t walk on the trail that connects El Capitan to Refugio. You can’t have dogs on the beach. You better keep your tires on the asphalt or you’ll be cited.
The bathroom is dirty and only had scalding hot water coming out of the shower head. (how about a sign on the shower stall informing me before I wasted all those quarters???)
Yes, this place is beautiful and should be relaxing. But now that I’m home from our trip, I feel I need a vacation from our stressful stay at El Cap.
I’m so angry with the way this park is being managed. This use to be my #1 go-​to favorite vacation spot… not anymore.

On a whim, I looked for a quick weekend beach getaway. Was able to book a Saturday at the El Capitan State campground. I thought the $ 45 +fees was steep but when you get there, WOW well worth it. Had a great spot, private, clean and huge. Each space has 2 parking spaces-​max 8occup. And it seems they monitor it. Beach access is about a 5min quick walk or do what we did and drove to day parking lot and parked there. We have 4 kids so there was lots of beach gear (however we got a great spot that is very accessible)
Ok I was hesitant — a lot of weird/​bad reviews but #imho — bathrooms clean maintained (could be cleaner — $.25 cents/​2mins with hot water that can be turned off/​on (wear chanklas) *should be a lot cleaner esp for what is charged for a daily rate but they didn’t smell!
Sites are huge — no tent pads so bring rakes/​broom/​tarp for tents. No food/​metal box so always store your food in enclosed bins/​cars etc. lots of people wrote of Skunks/​mice/​squirrels I saw NONE, a few squirrels but none of the other. Fire pit with host selling $ 6 bundles. Also shop is tiny but has a lot of things you might forget at an inflated price. No fresh meats/​produce. (No Lodgepole Market ;) nearest supermarket is about 10minutes south in Goleta (alberstsons/​traders)
We will for sure go back, beach was nice I had some tar/​oil remnants but the rest of my family didn’t. Also the weekend we went was a heatwave, it was in the 90s at 10p — we were so hot!

we stayed in site 41. It was very spacious with a couple big rocks for our son to climb. The site also has a path at the back of it that leads to the beach, very convenient. This site has plenty of shade and privacy. You need to take quarters for the showers and some baby oil in case you get tar on the beach.

I only give this a 3 as I have no other experiences with other campsites. So for me, this was an A-​ok experience.
The drive up to El Cap is quite lovely as you leave Santa Barbara. We had no trouble finding the right exit and once we gave our last name for the reservation, we got our parking ticket and were off to find it. Our campsite group was in Loop D closer to the beach. Setting up camp was a breeze but finding a non slopey area was not. We still ended up sleeping at an angle. The site had a large firepit and picnic tables. We were not too far from the bathrooms which was nice to have, although a little smelly.
I did not use the showers but they were readily available for 25 cents /​2 minutes. Lighting is dim in the bathrooms and bathrooms were maintained regularly.
The beach is quite lovely but can be cumbersome to get to if you have a lot of gear. The early mornings were beautiful as it was empty so I truly enjoyed the serenity it provided. I did end up with tar on the feet but that washed away in a couple days. The sunset was exquisite too and the sky was somewhat clear for sky gazing. All in all, pretty relaxing. People were generally quiet during quiet hours. The store was overpriced in my opinion, we we ended up at a grocery store in Goleta for rations.
A fox got into our camping friends’ food so lock up that food at night. We smelled skunk as well, so be careful! Check out was at 12.

I’m here right now. The bathrooms are gross. You can smell them from a few campsites away. I mean they are wretched. I can’t speak for the women’s side but I was unable to brush my teeth they are so bad. Doesn’t matter what time of day…
Yes, there’s skunks and raccoons but put your stuff away and they stay away. Beach is super crowded but I did catch 3 surf perch.
I won’t be back here. There’s little to no privacy whatsoever. Getting here took me almost 4 hours leaving from 120 miles out. I left at 8am on a Saturday coming from OC. Most of the traffics was from Ventura all the way here (101).
Call me a wuss, but the gross bathrooms really killed the deal.

My kids had a Blast! They took their scooters, boogie boards, board games, my son also took his kite. Next year we will take our bikes. DON’T FORGET to take BABY OIL. Why? Well, unfortunately there is still some tar on the beach and the best way to take it off is with Baby oil.

This is a nice spot with nice views. Showers and baths are dated, but clean. Highway noise is constant, squirrels are all over and into everything. We did learn a valuable lesson, the brochure doesn’t mention having hookups, that’s because there are none!
Fresh water is available to fill the tank. There is a gas station just a few miles south to dump for a $ 5– fee. And, it’s super easy to access.

Stayed for one night with a 25′ Airstream. Overall I’d give the campground 3 stars. The sites, and the roads, are big enough to where you dont have to worry about running into anything with the trailer or RV, and the bathroom facilities were fine. But no hookups of any kind and a $ 40 per night rate just dont add up. I gave it a 4^th star because while walking the beach we were able to watch a couple grey whales and dolphins swimming only about 40 yards off the beach. We watched them for about an hour until the sun went down which made the stay memorable.

This area was such an easy introduction to camping for me! There was clean toilets with toilet paper, showers, running water, fire pit, and benches! Is it really camping at this point? Haha! I’ve NEVER been camping of any sort, so I didn’t know what to expect. Let’s just say that I came over prepared. It’s better to be safe than sorry, right?
This campground is less than 15 minutes north of Santa Barbara. It’s easy access to the site and you can park right next to your camp site! Campers are allowed to bring dogs (+++++++) as long as they’re on a leash at all times. If you’re lucky enough, you can set up camp overlooking the ocean. I’m not sure if you can reserve a specific area to camp. There’s only a handful of spots where you can get that oceanview. We were right by the a small road and the freeway, so it was annoying to hear cars drive by all night. It was hard enough to get a good night’s sleep on the ground! It was unsafe where we were at because there was no barrier between ourselves and the road! If a car had swerved or gotten into an accident, we would’ve been injured!
Would I do it again? No offense to this campsite, but probably not. Just not my thing, but what an easy experience!

It’s difficult to type while laughing and shaking my head at the same time. How is it that you expect to camp «in nature» and yet you are alarmed, or worse, offended, at the sight of a skunk or two, or (gasp!) even raccoons? Oh my goodness people, stay home, or go to Campland in San Diego. The only kind of skunk that may find its way into your campsite will be the kind that wafts in. Wink wink.
This campground is really spectacular. It offers a lot of scenery and has a great change in topography. There are plenty of wooded areas, lots of walking trails, and of course the beach. I agree, it is a rockier beach than nearby Carpinteria State Beach, but it’s spectacular none the less. Just keep track of the tides (ask any life guard or check the chart at the general store) and you can be sure to secure some quality beach time on the sand.
The bathrooms are clean and appear to have been built in the last few years. I did hear about the showers being shut down, but by the time we camped, they were back on.
My only negative is that you do get a lot of road noise at night. When we camp in Carpinteria, the 101 is only half a mile away, and yet you do not get nearly the same level of road noise. It has kept me up a few times. Perhaps it’s because El Capitan is in a more rural area and the sound carries further. I don’t know how else to explain it. Maybe next time I’ll bring ear plugs for that.
As far as the train goes, the tracks run up and down the coast from San Diego to Santa Barbara. It is loud, yes, but it doesn’t last long. However, if that’s a deal breaker for you, I get it. I just don’t get the complaints about the skunks!

A lovely place to stop by! While driving back from Solvang, Chef and I stopped by to check out the beach. It’s not a place where you can actually sit on the beach as it’s all rocks but you can sit at a picnic table and enjoy the view. Also there are trails where you can walk through and get in touch with nature.
It was later on in the day but the sun hadn’t set yet, but I’m sure it would have been even more beautiful. I’m a sucker for anything with a view and there is nothing better than a beach! There was no one really here so it was nice to just walk around without a crowd. Definitely a must if you’re driving back as it’s not going out of your way! Take pics!

Camping is fun here, with clean rest rooms, bike trails, and beach access via stairways to a long sandy beach. I’ve stayed in a tent and haven’t noticed the freeway or train noise-​get a place as close to the ocean as possible. The place books out during the summer, but is empty off-​season.
My latest visit was a day trip-​huge view day use parking area-​it costs $ 10 for the day unless you have an annual state park pass, which I recommend. Go at low tide and check out the tidepools. There’s surfing, picnic tables right on the beach, nature trails, wildflowers-​a great place to spend an afternoon.