Santa Cruz Campground — Carpinteria State Beach, near Carpinteria, California, is a fantastic destination for those looking to enjoy beachside camping with easy access to the ocean. The campground offers a unique experience with snug sites that are just steps away from the sandy shores, making it a popular choice for families and beach lovers alike.

Campers appreciate the amenities, including picnic tables, fire pits, and clean restrooms. Many visitors have highlighted the beautiful beach access and the vibrant local scene, with nearby shops and eateries adding to the charm. One camper noted, “The beaches are always nice,” while another mentioned the fun bike rides along the trails that connect the campground to the surrounding area.

For those who enjoy wildlife, you might spot seals and dolphins while swimming or surfing. The campground is also pet-friendly, so you can bring your furry friends along for the adventure. If you’re up for exploring, the nearby town offers great dining options and local attractions, making it easy to fill your days with fun activities. 

While the sites can feel a bit close together, the lively atmosphere and stunning coastal views make Santa Cruz Campground a memorable spot for your next getaway. Whether you’re here for a weekend or a longer stay, you’ll find plenty to enjoy right at your doorstep.

Twelve miles south of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria camping offers a mile of beach for swimming, surf fishing, tidepool exploring and camping. Although dogs are not allowed on beach, we have a great picnic area where they are allowed to enjoy the outdoors as well. Lifeguards patrol the beach year round and lifeguard towers are staffed roughly from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. The Spanish named the area Carpinteria because the Chumash tribe, which lived in the area, had a large seagoing canoe-building enterprise, or "carpentry shop" here. This was because of naturally-occurring surface tar, which was used to waterproof the canoes.

 Seals and sea lions can be seen in the area December through May, as well as an occasional gray whale. Tidepools contain starfish, sea anemones, crabs, snails, octopi and sea urchins.

Santa Cruz Campground — Carpinteria State Beach

Whether you're a tent camper, an RVer, or just passing through, Carpinteria, CA has a lot to offer. Carpinteria is a great camping destination for everyone. There are tons of nearby hikes, adventurous activities, and sights to see. You're sure to find the perfect campground for your Carpinteria camping trip.

Carpinteria

The Best Camping Near Carpinteria, California

The rv campsites are to small. You have to squeeze to get in or out of your rv. They do have beautiful views and the beach is beautiful. Over all my family and I had a horible expirience with the neighbor next to us he was drunk and made it horible to be there.

Rv campsites to small

This is a truly unique campground that my family has been visiting for decades.  You can walk into town and eat at the amazing restaurants quaint Carpenteria has to offer.  Or you can listen to the waves roll in from your campground as you cook something up over the camp fire.  A great home base to explore Santa Barbara or Sloveng too.  

Town meets Beach Camping

Match made in heaven.  Beach camping meets cute beach town.  Great restaurants and breweries in Carpenteria all within walking distance from the beach camping sites here.  This is truly an unique experience that is great for kids and families alike.  If can reserve early go for the Santa Cruz loop on the water!

Cute beach town meets camping

This is a great beach to spend time camping near. The campgrounds are pretty large and a lot of people take advantage of the near year round perfect weather. Facilities are clean and there's a trail nearby that leads to other areas along the cliffside part of the beach. There is offshore drilling that creates tar residue laden areas so it's best not to walk barefoot there. It's a weird thing but the lights from the offshore drilling are kinda cool looking. All sorts of people camp here so I would say there's a good mix of the populace and the vibe is entertaining and unpretentious. This is a heavy touristed area so the place is crowded year round and the day area busy, although we were still able to stay here and get great beachfront space around Christmas time when hords of folks come to enjoy 70 degree temps. It's a nice spot, and everyone knows about it...

Always great views, weather and sunsets

Okay, the sites aren't anything special at all, but the view! Fall asleep to the sound of the ocean. Often hard to get a spot, and kind of expensive compared to other camp sites, but totally worth it.

What a View!

The good: it's on the beach.
The bad: it is an absolute parking lot. It feels like tailgating next to train tracks. Yes the train goes right by you as well. And you can't even walk your dog on the beach on the leash. We meant to spend the night there on our way down the coast and hit the road after we saw what it looked like:( 
Carpinteria is a super cute little beach town that's why I have it 2 points. Just don't camp there. 

Don't bother 

visited this summer and was beautiful! Since then has been used to dump debris from the Montecito mud slide and water has high bacteria levels:(

Hopefully cleaned uo someday 

Nestled between Ventura and Santa Barbara just north of Los Angeles is this picture perfect State Beach campground. This location has both full hook-ups as well as tent camping
right up to the coast  This campsite also has showers availa le and restrooms  There are plenty of miles of bike trails as well as hiking tails to the Bluffs that overlook a sea lion protected sanctuary  But the most glorious reason to come here are the breath taking sunsets viewable from your own campsite  




Beautiful ocean sunsets at this quaint campground

This is a nice little spot, close to town, but not as close to the train as some of the other Southern California state beaches. The campground hosts went above and beyond to keep the bathrooms clean and even provided nice soap. The tent camping spots were a pretty good size for beach camping.

Nice State Beach Campground

Clean, spacious, family and non-family friendly.. near the ocean... fairly quiet

Spectacular Campsites

I love camping at Carpinteria State Beach when I can get a weekend spot! This place is located right on the beach in the small, fun town of Carpinteria, CA. They have nice, clean bathrooms with coin operated showers to clean up when you want. Very closely located to Grocery Stores, Banks, Food, and Pharmacy for all your needs. They even have a walk/Bike path that circles the grounds if you want to walk or bike. Overall Great place to stay, but you must book several months ahead of time to get a weekend trip. The week days are easier to book.

Very popular Beach Camping!

I stayed at Carpinteria State Beach this past weekend and had a great time. The staff were super friendly at the entry and the camp host was as well. We had a spot on the far side of the camp from the beach but were still only a couple minutes walk away. The facilities were nice with individual shower rooms and restrooms. Only reason I’d remove a star is due to the train tracks right next to the camp. However thats out If their control and I didn’t notice a train horn between the hours of 2200-0530. 

Right on the Beach

I’ve grown up camping at Carpinteria as a SoCal native and it is definitely worth the visit. With sites that have close access to the beach and a super cute town within walking distance, this is a great place for couples, groups, and families. The only downside of Carpinteria is a train that runs through near the grounds, but if you’re looking for quintessential CA beach camping, this is pretty ideal. Hit up ‘The Spot,’ a tiny shack on the beach that serves up some delicious burgers and visit during the Avocado Festival during October 5-7. It’s one of the best times to camp there. https://www.avofest.com/

A Must Stop Camping Spot Off the 101 Just North of Ventura Beach

Carpinteria state beach has the best beach row sites with full hookups. The town is awesome and a short bike ride away featuring everything from 5 star restaurants to antique stores and more. L

Favorite place in the world

Carpinteria State Beach Campground is a one of our frequently visited “staycation” spots. We live in nearby Santa Barbara, but will use Carp State Beach as a midway meeting point when friends from Southern California and Central California meet up. 

The campground is pretty large, and caters mostly to RVs and trailers. There are loops within the campground that are essentially just asphalt lots with small dirt spaces for fire pits and picnic benches - these are intended for RV campers, but we have tent camped there in a pinch. Since we are tent campers we do prefer to camp in the grassy tent sites, but they are limited in number and tend fill up quickly. Because of the moderate year-round weather, Carpinteria State Beach Campground stays pretty full all year long!

The campground has full hook ups, clean plumed bathrooms, and coin-operated showers. There are grocery stores and conscience stores within short walking distance for anything you might need. Train tracks run directly behind the campground, so there is some noise pollution from the passing trains. 

The campground is at the very end of downtown Carpinteria, right next to the ocean. There are no “ocean front” sites, but the beach is a quick 1-minute walk from essentially anywhere in the campground. Some small sandy dunes separate the campground from the beach, and there is an accessible paved boardwalk running along the length of the dunes. There are beautiful tide pools just south of Carpinteria State Beach Campground that are a must see. Check the tide charts on the internet to visit the tide pools at low to mid tide. 

While we really enjoy camp cooking, we tend to opt to walk into town to eat when camping in Carpinteria. Linden Avenue is right next to the campground, and is the main street in downtown Carpinteria. There is a wide variety of restaurants, breweries and coffee shops downtown. Island Brewery CO is a local favorite just on the edge of the campground - while I don’t think they have food available (yet), their beer is GREAT! Their avocado beer is a must try - I know it sounds weird, but it’s delicious (and doesn’t taste like avocados)! Rincon Brewery is a few blocks up from the campground, and also has great beer, and TASTY FOOD! 


**CAMPSITE SPECS**

**Fees:** $45/night (normal campsite)

**Plumbed Toilets**: Yes

**Drinking Water**: Yes

**Showers**: Yes (coin-operated)

**Picnic Table**: Yes

**Firepit**: Yes

**Cooking Grate**: Yes

**Shade**: No

**Cell Service**: Yes

**Animal Bins/Food lockers**: No

**Trash**: Yes

Carpinteria State Beach Campground

Awesome beach campground 

This campground is very touristy and not very private. There is no shade, it's mostly for RV sites, you can put a tent up, but like everywhere else beach camping I would advise a trailer or something. It gets very windy and sand gets everywhere! It is also very near a train track!  It is an absolutely gorgeous beach, I can see why it gets popular. Its also quite expensive. There are well maintained bathrooms, with coin operated showers. The stars are amazing at this beach. 

Cute campground 

I have a wife and 4 kids and we spent 3 nights in a tent. We had a blast and I would recommend it. The beach is only a short walk away and you can enjoy all the normal activities that a beach brings. The bathrooms and showers are cleaned daily which is a plus. The fire pits were well made. A good place to ride bicycles with a paved loop through the park. Wind was an issue for us on one day. It was so strong that we couldn't stay on the beach and we had to point our tenet in a different direction. I didn't give it a five star review because I thought the dumpsters were out in the open to much and I couldn't get the hot water to work when I tried to shower.

A great campsite for a family to enjoy the beach!

Nice campground on a beautiful beach. Very crowded and expensive $60/$70 a night and right on a railroad track. Not bad for a beach campground but a bit too crowded and loud for my taste. 

Solid but expensive and crowded

Pretty muddy, but great location. We got the shared spot, and we had tons of room.
It was just a little muddy. Walking distance to all the great breweries, and restaurants.

Good spot.

Carpinteria SB is one of our favorite places to camp.  Anacapa and Santa Cruz sections are all dry camping and larger sites.  The other two sections have hook up sites but the sites are very tight.  Anacapa section is right next to a large grassy area and park.  We like to take our dog to play fetch there and we take out daughter to the park at least a few times a day.  Dogs are allowed in the campground but not on the beach, so the grassy area by the park is a great alternative if your dog has a lot of energy.  The town of Carpinteria is super cute with lots of shops and restaurants to walk to.  Island Brewery is walking distance.  They usually have a food truck in the later afternoons and also have a little kids room with toys to keep the kids busy :-)

  

I would say the only downfall is the train is right next to the campground and it does go by multiple times a day/night

Beach camping with lots to do

With all the Covid-19 guidelines in place for campgrounds to reopen, I was excited to see what that would look like. I naively thought the campgrounds wouldn’t be open to capacity and I was hoping for camping not so close to other campers. I don’t love how tightly packed everyone is on a normal summer camping day/night. So imagine my annoyance when it was just as tightly packed during this social distancing summer as it usually is! 

With that said, people were kind and our small campground worked for our family. The only problem we had was a neighboring campground deciding past quiet hours that it was a good time to start singing and playing the ukulele. Not sure why the camp host didn’t come tell them to be quiet. It lasted until 11:30pm at least. 

There is construction on one of the bathroom buildings so there were additional porta-pottys with portable hand washing stations next to them. These bathrooms were very clean! I was pleasantly surprised. 

We love the beach access right next to our campsite and the beautiful scenery of the mountains above. It really is a gorgeous place. 

Our boys loved guessing what trains (metro link or surf liner) were passing through- because yes- the train is a stones throw behind the sites and the trains runs frequently. 

My 4 star rating is for what it is. A great camping spot that will always be booked to capacity because it’s beach camping in Southern California. I wanted to write an updated review for those wondering what covid-19 looks like here. Well? It’s the same. Just some extra hand washing stations and some people wearing masks. 

Things as Usual

Hadn’t been here in over 30 years and it’s still a great camping beach.  Beach is clean, swimming is mellow, the tide pools are cool, and you can walk to just about anything you need.  There are trains that come through right behind the campsite, but did not seem as obnoxious as I would have thought. 

Loved the whole place but one thing.  The spots are tight!!!! We felt like we were on top of our neighbors and had to park our car far away. We even had one of the premium spots on the sand (360).  Our fire pit and table was within feet of our neighbors stuff. So much for social distancing.  Luckily, the camp host, Tom, was awesome!  He saw that we got pinched in and loaned us a fire pit that we set up away from the neighbors. Very friendly staff and it appears that they are doing a lot of work on the campground to make it nicer.  Just wish they’d make the spots a tad bigger.  

I’d go back for sure, but if you are in the mood for seclusion and harnessing your inner introvert. This is not the place for you. 

Sardine in paradise 

We were there a week ago and as usual had a great camping experience.   The beautiful beach and the nice convenient downtown walking distance from the campground just in case you forget something or just feel lazy and eat at one of the local venues. The campground is under some construction projects adding restrooms and showers. The current restrooms are dated but fully functional. The showers take quarters so you don't have to worry about tokens.  I have camped here for 25 years in each of the different sections of the campground. They offer camp sites for the folks walking on site and everything in between up to full self contained RVs.  However no pull throughs.

Camping with Convenient Downtown

This campground is between the beach and Amtrak train, but if noise doesn't bother you, there are some really amazing things, especially if you love camping or glamping with your dog! Directly behind the campground you must keep the dog off the beach, but two blocks away is the entrance to the Salt Marshes and the beach entrance there where you can rent sea kayaks and boards in the summer is a secret many don't know...a 1/2 a mile where fido can run free off leash and play in the surf. One of the safest beaches in CA due to the proximity of the channel islands, you won't have to worry about sharks here. And the end of the this beach is the Salt Marsh water inlet and when the time is low you can walk the deserted beach for miles and miles. Just get back before high tide or you will find yourself crossing an extremely powerful river sea. In the summer there is movies in the park which a an ample lush green field for playing frisbee or ball that separates the campground from the main palm lined street Linden. Famous for it's avo
cado festival which draws nearly 80,000 people from around the world. Linden Street has a grocery, brewery, pharmacy, and diverse cuisine, everything from a burger stand, Thai, sushi, and a famous grill your steak sit and dine. There is also a lovely little Mexican bakery and candy shop for the kids. You can buy t-shirts, get a haircut, tattoo, or latte to go. There is even the local health food store with a smoothie to go bar in the back for a pick me up or detox with a straw! Carpinteria is a dog friendly town. You will dogs and bikes everywhere which incidentally, you can rent not far from the 2 campgrounds. There is a driving through lot for day travelers or RVs. You must book early online to get a camping spot because of the site's popularity. Othewise, it is a first come basis. It has showers so bring lots of quarters, especially if you want to do your laundry at Linden Street laundry mat. Fire pits and a table are at each site. Expect to also hear generators running as the sites tend to be close, but you can count on having lots to do. Cool nights, warm days, cold water. Sea glass, shells, and cool rocks. Not far from this beach is Rincon Point  or what the locals call Bates Beach where surfers are there everyday. The large tide pools and stone is otherworldly, and again, bring the pooch, they are going to love it! We do! Returning! And a good time was had by all...

Take the dog!

Me and my gf came to Carpinteria for our first car camping experience. We paid extra to stay on the beach front spots near the south side of the site. Was totally worth it. We had a great time with amazing views. The beachfront spots didn’t have fire pits though so we ran to the local grocery store and bought one. Overall great site and had a great time. 

Great Camp

The sites are just parking spaces with picnic tables. Very little greenery or shade. The restrooms and showers were out of order, and they had a single portapotty for our entire half of the campground. Everything was in serious disrepair and dirty. 

Filthy, broken mess

I've been going to carpentaria since I was 5 years old.
It was always our family "end of the summer"  camping trip. 
I've had so many amazing memories and traditions. We always get up early at low tide to collect sea shells and sand dollars and watch the sea lions sleep on the rocks. And everyone has to eat at "The Spot" which is walking distance from the campground, along with vons and rite aid.
Also the brewery is above chill place to enjoy the fine art of drinking.
Just a cute and amazing town . I have yet to have a bad experience there. And love meeting people from all over the united states and talking with other campers. Everyone is just super friendly. 
Also my family in recent years have been going in the winter season and it's amazing still. Slower paced, but still amazing. I can't push this as a must go location, even just for a day. 

Best memories ever

Camp hosts are friendly and they enforce the rules which I like because it was quiet at night and nobody was taking over my space. However, it is not a campground it is a parking lot where you camp. Bathrooms are dirty, hot shower doesn't always work, ground was full of some gophers who were digging holes so you have to watch your step and it is very wet and muddy. Spots are very close to each other, neighbor was less than 10 ft away. Location is great though, as the beach is right there and it is short walk to town with shops and restaurants. Otherwise this would be one star review. It is too expensive for what it is offered. 

Dirty

Very Friendly,And Clean.You can surely see God's Creation 

Very Beautiful

My family has been camping here for 50+ years... should say enough!
Best camping trip (with family, friends, solo, whatever!) you’ll have, safe area, very accessible.
Bathrooms have power outlets, token-powered hot showers, and super close to town. 
Make sure you pack your food away at night.... raccoons are present! 

Best Annual Trips

The Pacific Ocean is the winner here. Sites are small but if you consider the beach part of your site your golden. No dogs on beach though. Town is fun too. 

Beach front camping

It's a beautiful place to go camping !  Right off the beach!  And then the small city is walking distance. There are interesting little shops. Big grocery stores and lots of different restaurants to visit  I've camped there in the sumner months  and loved it  I've camped there in the winter. And it poured!!   It was beautiful!!

Love love love carpinteria beach  camping!

Very Nice Beach could use a little cleaning up as far as landscape around camp site specially around Camp Santa Miguel

Beautiful Beach

Something for everyone. Friendly rangers. Bathrooms with hot hot showers and a very relaxing environment 

We love this beach

The back row of sites furthest from the beach is up against train tracks so be advised.  Sites are paved parking lot style stacked in with a bit of dirt for fire ring table and tent.  Not much more but the beach you get is amazing.

It’s the Beach Location that counts

A little crowded, we arrived just after 3 pm. Lovely beach scenes! 

Clean Showers & Bathrooms

This campground had more of a tailgate feel due to the parking lot camping spaces provided. 

Santa Rosa Loop #309

Check in 2:00 pm
Check out 12:00 pm

The parking spot was two vehicles wide. The backyard area was Sandy ground equipped with a fire pit and wooden bench. Plenty of space if you want to add tents. 

Night two we switched locations to San Miguel Loop #421. This space was more compact with a smaller backyard area. It was one of the rare spots that had a tree that provided plenty of shade. We did not need to setup our easy up. 

Bathrooms were decent. No soap provided. Showers available and coin operated. 

This campground was extremely busy during the weekend in July I was there. There is a great brewery walking distance (10 minutes) for a quick bite, live music and drinks. The downtown area is very walkable for this campground so you can plan your meals in advance if you don’t feel like cooking. 

Tailgate Camping

Great campground, get a burger at The Spot.

Incredible, Beachfront

Location and beach access: 5

Spacing of sites: 2 ( If you have a small enough unit, get beach front - a must.  If you have a high sitting RV, the second line of sites from the beach will give you a view.  

Bathrooms and showers: 1.  Their cleaning is minimal.  White bricks are dirty, dusty on top ledges. Shower floors have not been scrubbed in ages.  Stains on walls could easily be cleaned off.   Really is disgusting in our loop.   The Santa Rosa loop looks to have newer facilities 

Wonderful Sound, Close Quarters, Poor Showers

Great location at the beach. Beautiful little town with many shops and good food. Camp spots are crowded together closely in the anacapa loop. I had to park my pickup in the overflow parking since it wouldn't fit in our tight little assigned space. Many things to see and do here from the beach to hiking trails to tar pits right nearby.

Beautiful beachside camping

The spots are just so small, especially the ones with full hook ups. You can park your car on the next loop over, but you will barely have enough space sit in your chair

The beach is great

Snagged a cancellation at Carp Santa Cruz site C233 to celebrate our new trailer and our Labrador’s first birthday!!! Doors opened to the west (that’s a good thing!), and it was easy to back into. Site was flat, but in the back. Heavy foot traffic on sidewalk that connects the different campgrounds gave us little privacy. Still, any time we get to spend in Carp is time well-spent!

  

Pros:

*   Location—next to beach, great restaurants, excellent ice cream (Rori’s), solid beer scene, great bluffside running trails!
*   Large site—not the parking lot like San Miguel and Santa Rosa tend to be. 
*   Camp host was friendly. 
*   Clean bathrooms and showers. 
*   Easy to fill water tank at dump station before parking. 
*   Easy to dump at dump station. 
*   Close to town—easy bike/walk. 

Cons: 

*   Tar on beach. 
*   Next to railroad tracks. 
*   Site backs up to sidewalk, offering little privacy. 
*   Dogs not allowed on beach (I know… but my labs don’t get it!)
*   Smoking neighbors. 
*   Lots of fox tails on site.

Santa Cruz dry camping

$10 per night per person, max 2 nights and 48 hour wait before you can come back. Max 5 times per year. 

Took my son here for a weekend to explore Santa Barbara. There is no overnight parking in the park unless you have a previously reserved car camping campsite. We walking in with our belongings and there was three other campers on their bikes. Short walk to the Amtrak Surfliner, restaurants, dogs are allowed on a leash on the campsite. There is a dog beach a few minutes walk away. 

There’s 3 fire pits for H&amp;B campers, a Food box and a bike rack. 

Hike & Bike 

Great location, spots are so close to the beach with no bluff and stairs.  Spots are very snug.  You can get stuck waiting for a while if your neighbors don’t know how to park their unit.  Only downside is the neighbors sewer is in your site.  Also we had some grumpy neighbors which sucks with the smaller sites.  Seals and dolphins all around while you swim or surf

Snug

My family camps here everyone year for as long as I can remember. The beaches are always nice. The trail that goes to the end of the campground is always fun bike ride. Carp itself is one of my favorite little towns. When camping, we also stop at Robitaille's Fine Candy shop.

Family Tradition 

Facilities are run down. This places needs a major make over! Bathrooms are dirty, showers are gross.
Sinks to wash dishes are disgusting &amp; right next to dumpsters. 
You have no privacy and sites are right on top of each other…you’re basically in a parking lot. Barking dogs right next to you can get pretty annoying pretty fast.
NOT WORTH the $70 a night fee. 
I would only stay here here as a LAST resort

Not Worth staying here

Beautiful location. Close to town. Walkable, hike-able, bike-able, rideable via paths. No dogs on beach. There is a dog beach further up the coast. Sites are pretty tight. Lots of families and tent camping. Need token from kiosk for showers. Train comes by every once in a while. I stayed in Santa Cruz in my 25’ motorhome with no hook ups. Had my own picnic table and fire ring. May stay again only because of the nice walkable paths. Watch where you step near the tar pits. 


Beautiful location. Close to town

Santa Cruz non-hook-up sites have: asphalt parking (close to level); picnic table; fire pit.  Individual restrooms with flush toilets and hot/cold water sinks cleaned daily but get lots of use.  Showers (tokens) cleaned but may have beach sand on floors.  Check feet / shoes for TAR from beach before entering tent / RV!  Baby oil helps take it off... plastic bag(s) helps to contain shoes.  Spaces can be tight... neighbor's RV was about two feet from ours.  Non-hook-up fee was $43.00 plus $8.25 online reservation fee.  "Enroute" camping may be available if campground is "full"... no hook-ups or tables - and have to leave by 9am - but you might have more space!   Inquire at front gate even if sign says "campground full".  Quiet after 10pm on Friday night even though campground and group sites were very full.  Thanks fellow campers!  Nice wide and safe swimming beach - close to quaint town - make this a CALIFORNIA CLASSIC.

Close to Walkable Swimmable Beach / Close to Town / Nice Sunsets / Crowded

The park staff is amazing, Susan and Jake.
The location to Shopify and eatery’s absolutely perfect.

Photos of Santa Cruz Campground — Carpinteria State Beach

Real photos from real campers