Santa Barbara County, California

El Capitan State Park is on the Gaviota Coast. It is about 20 miles from Santa Barbara, so check your checklist for all your camp essentials. The park has a camp store, but sometimes it is closed, so don't count on the store for missed items. There are 142 sites; trailers have a 42 feet maximum. There are no hook-ups, but they do have restrooms and showers. Bring all bathroom amenities, especially toilet paper; they tend to run out. They have handicap features along with yearly annual passes. There are some great campsites at El Cap so take the time to walk around the campground to pick a few favorites. Dogs are allowed in the campground but not on the beach. The campground has a walk-in, first-come, first-serve policy, so check out campground information on their website.

This campground is a quiet space, especially in the afternoon. Birdlife is everywhere, from bluejays who visit your campsite, crows fighting for attention, pelicans dancing on top of the waves, seagulls, and sandpipers working the food sources on the beach. In the campground find raccoons, and skunks, so watch your pets. Keep your food inside your camper or car. The campground residents will open any containers left outside; they are very gifted. Also, keep windows on your cars up. Our favorite camp story is seeing chocolate raccoon tracks all over our fellow campers' car inside and out, with candy bar wrappers everywhere; poor fellow we had told his group to watch out for the raccoons, guess he didn't get the message. If you are there at the right time, you can see whales and dolphins from your campsite.
The sunsets are amazing.