Refugio State Beach Campground

Camp here as frequently as possible! Snagged a morning-of cancellation for two night at site 49. This is the furthest spot away from the ocean we’ve ever stayed, but the site was large and exposed, which meant our solar panels were able to get all the charge they needed each day to easily power everything. Be sure to fill up tanks at El Capitan before entering. Otherwise, bring lots of water or a 5-gallon refillable water tote. Nearest dump is Carpinteria (to the south) or Flying Flags (they charge—to the north).

Pros: 

• Large site
• Some sites offer more shade than others. 
• Camp host (Here’s looking at you, Goldie!!!)
• Clean bathrooms
• FINALLY put in a token machine next to the showers! Great water pressure and temp!
• Location!!!

Cons:

• Lots of tar (bring essential or baby oil OR WD-40 to remove)
• Next to train tracks (don’t run frequently at night, but could still wake tent campers and sensitive sleepers)
• Dogs not allowed on beach (I know… but my Labradors don’t understand!!! :)
• Lots of foxtails on our site

Nice and clean campground next to the ocean. You do not hear the highway, restrooms are okay, showers need coins. We really enjoyed our short stay there.

This place is magnificent, and also chaotic. Its strength is its location. Every campsite is a few steps from the beach, made picturesque by a line of palm trees. There is little shrubbery to give campers privacy, but this is as it should be. Shrubs would only block the view.

Amenities are good. Bathrooms are single occupancy and fairly clean and modern. The one I used had a high-flow faucet that delivered hot and cold water without needing to be held down or pressed repeatedly. Many dishwashing stations are also available.

There was, as I said, some chaos: children riding scooters, children riding bicycles, children driving a Barbie jeep, children running and hollering and being rambunctious. There is also a railroad track just east of the campground. Multiple Amtrak and freight trains passed during my stay. Lastly, the wind picked up in the evening and forced me to stake down my tent more securely. All told, it was a noisy stay, but the beach made it worthwhile.

Final note: the water here, while potable, does not taste very good. Recommend bringing a good supply of drinking water.

Picture postcard looking area. Beautiful area meets your needs. Store restrooms showers

A lovely sheltered beach, just off the freeway, clean restrooms. Nothing like sleeping with the sound of waves. Freeway noise is unfortunately continuous also. Campsites are level, and very closely spaced. There is no RV sanitary dump, the Dyrt amenities list is incorrect on this.

Wonderfully cared for site and gorgeous beach. Hella recommended staying for more than just overnight.

Beautiful campground right next to the beach.

A spacious, clean campground right by the beach. Just north of Goleta and a good relaxing pitstop or place to stay for a couple nights. Highway 1 is near so you will hear traffic but not so loud you can’t enjoy the night. At the right time of day you will see an Amtrak train roll by as well. Big beach area with plenty of space to stretch out. Also a little general store on site as well.

I’ll admit we got lucky with our spot and that probably made every difference in the world. Unless you get a ocean front spot, it is cramped in some sites. The sites towards the back have more room but the train at night might annoy you as well as traffic on the highway. The campground is not that large and all the sites are a quick walk to the sand. Nice beach, clean park and bathrooms were acceptable. I hear the staff runs the place with a iron fist, which for rule followers makes for a nice experience I guess. But when I asked where I could get water, I felt like I was in the Seinfeld soup nazi kitchen. People skills could improve. No fire wood available when we were there, but there is a barn that apparently sells it. Dump and water fill up the road at El Capitan. No store or food for miles, but I did see someone getting food delivered one afternoon.

All in all nice quiet dry beach campsite a couple hours north of LA.

Great group site. Went with kids school. . It was like 15 families. The group site is amazing if you can get a spot. Heard it's hard. Right on the beach.

Awesome

We love it here, the only problem is all the ants!

Not far from Solvang and right on the beach. It's a "parking lot" campground so you're right next to other campers. The bathrooms were okay and there were showers available. The sinks for washing dishes were not working. The train goes by right next to the campground, but we like that sound and it didn't bother us. The camp host was very friendly and even had a "little free library"!  Nice touch.  

The person at the pay station gave us a map of the sites that were still available so we could drive through and choose the one we wanted, then return to pay for it. Unfortunately, we found that the map was not accurate, but we did find a site. 

There were large fire pits. 

I imagine this campground fills up quickly on weekends in summer, as it's not far from populated areas. I think we were lucky to find a spot on a Friday night without having a reservation.

Love the beach very nice and clean

Refugio is beautiful. Quiet, clean and very close walk to the beach, this camping spot has almost everything. We camped here on a Monday-Wednesday and the store on location is only open on the weekends, so thank goodness we brought everything we needed, otherwise you’re no where close to a store.

It's a nice campground with a little store. As with all Santa Barbara county, coastal campgrounds there is little shade. This is a campground for surfers! If you surf this is where you want to be. Coin operated showers, nice bathrooms, indoor and outdoor showers. This is a very accessible campground with great views. Just a ton of wind.

Nice campsite right on the beach with a little point break surf spot just at the end of the cove. Came down here to surf Rincon and ended up surfing this little point for most of the trip.

The site was pretty nice, but boy can it get windy! In the middle of the night our tent got completely blown over with us in it! More funny than anything else, but a little maddening in the middle of the night.

Low key but nice beach side campground along California’s Central Coast. Not to far from Santa Barbara. A bit of a surfers paradise because of some of the spots not far from the campsite.

Lovely campground near beach.

If you're tent camping, try to get a site far from the RV-dominated area. That will ensure more peace and quiet where you can hear the waves (and not annoying generators). There are some really epic beachfront sites- you just kinda live at the beach. Sadly, this area was seriously impacted by an oil spill a few years back. The water seems to be okay for swimming/surfing, but you'll definitely end up with globs of tar stuck to you. Take some baby oil to help get the tar out and don't wear any swimsuit/trunks you dont want stained. That said, it is still a really beautiful place to spend some quality beach time and seems to have recovered somewhat since the oil spill.

Campground separate from the day use area of the park. Had a store and grill. Not much in the way of hiking trails, but can stroll along the beach quite a ways

My family & I went camping here many years ago. We heard the waves & I even ran into a baby seal on the beach. It was a nice place to camp.

Very full, stopped early morning with no reservation but since I’m disabled they had a handicap site still open. Showers were coin operated, camp store had essentials, showers were filthy but that seemed normal for the beach campgrounds we stopped in. Good for one night stay in teardrop camper. Sites were flat, nice shade tree, playground, and of course the beach was awesome.

Incredible group site at Refugio. Great private loop and separate shower house. Camp store worker was super friendly, even got free coffee in our last day at camp. Only complaint during our stay was the fierce winds trying to blow our tent away, but we managed to survive.

Refugio state beach is a popular spot, but still very enjoyable, right on the ocean. Easy camping with flat pads and bathrooms. It was a great place for us to transition from backpacking to car camping, after we had our first child.

Campsites yards from the beach, mostly a flat little cove. Waves will appear only in the winter.