El Capitán State Beach, State beach on the Gaviota Coast, Santa Barbara County, California, US
El Capitán State Beach is a coastal strand in Santa Barbara County featuring sycamore and oak trees along with eucalyptus groves near the sandy shore. The campground offers 130 sites with picnic tables and fire rings suitable for tents and recreational vehicles up to 42 feet (13 meters) long.
The parkland was acquired in stages between 1953 and 1967, and the State Parks Commission classified El Capitán State Beach in June 1962. In 2002 the state bought 2,500 acres from El Capitan Ranch, adding oak woodlands and chaparral up to the Santa Ynez Mountains ridgelines. The 2015 Refugio oil spill closed the beach during clean-up, and the Sherpa Fire destroyed the water system in 2016.
The name comes from José Francisco Ortega, a Spanish Army captain who retired in 1795 and received the Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio land grant. In autumn, monarch butterflies gather here to overwinter, and tide pools along the sand hold marine life at low tide.
The park sits about 20 miles (32 km) west of downtown Santa Barbara, the easternmost of three state parks on the Gaviota Coast. Its campground has 131 sites, 6 of them RV-only, plus 5 group sites; sycamore and oak trees shade the camping area. Tide pools lie on the beach, and monarch butterflies gather here in autumn.
The park's five group sites sit beside a campground of 131 sites, six of them reserved for RVs. Monarch butterflies gather here in autumn to overwinter, clustering in the trees above the sand.
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