refugio state park and beach

I didn't like the rocks you have to walk and stumble through to get to the beach...after walking my dog on the beach, I saw a sign that said no dogs.. I personally think dogs, kids, and beaches go together, but I guess not everyone agrees with me. There is an informative shelter that tells the story of the Spaniard Ortega who owned the land as a ranch and a place for him to do his smuggling business in 1785! There are patches of tar that deposit on the beach from the gas and oil rich area according to the park service. Avoid it because its really difficult to remove but it was a valuable resource to the Chumash Indians as they used it to seal their pots and shoes. Interesting And its a great place to watch whale migration January throug March

This state park along with El Capitan are only 10-15 minutes north of the Bacara. Both parks are fun to visit, and you can walk/ride bikes the 3 mile path between them both for a fun family adventure. Saturday nights during the summer El Capitan Canyon has great outdoor concerts.

Came here with some friends who come here often. Amazing silken sand on which to walk. Less than amazing tar to stick to your feet. Rubs off.

The sand is soft and light colored, and the rocks make for a scenic beach. I understand that there are naturally occurring tar deposits on the beach. I never saw the tar, but had to spend 30 minutes scrubbing the soles of my shoes with baby oil to get it off.

Refugio Beach State Park is at a spectacular setting with palm springs, gentle breezes, and is in my opinion a little bit of paradise along the Pacific Ocean. Today it was just a delightful visit. We have camped here for Thanksgiving before and had a good time. Its a wonderful beach to walk and explore.

...of my life; beautiful. Unexpected. If you camp, you'll fall asleep to the waves crashing on the beach (camp site not on water-do your research for that). A smaller, kinder version of big sur, being a full 5 hours closer to la (one hour drive).

The washrooms need a fire hose taken to it as do the showers... with some bleach DAILY! The pit for the water tap stinks... just stinks..... The store has outrageously priced everything,5 dollars for ice is obscene.... therefore 45 dollars a night was a bit overkill....The people that work here are absolutely wonderful..... the site (19) was terrific, a bit small, BUT the shade from the trees made it beautiful. The beach was spectacular and yes, I'd go back, with the proper equipment so not to have to use the washrooms or to have the need to purchase ice. Period.... Shameful on a state park to charge such a price for disgusting washrooms....

My family and I spent four days at Refugio St.Beach Aug 21,22,23 & 24th. The toilets were never cleaned the whole time we were there. Bathroom trash dumped but toilets were never attended to. I wont speak of the showers! The state of California really must look into this. Our campsite,#57, was nice and large. Plenty of room for six adults and just steps from the beach. Although the campground was full it was very nice and quite and campers were friendly, family oriented. No crazy parties happening there. So, we would definitely go back even though the bathrooms/showers were poor. Too bad because I would have given the campground a four star rating. We all wore flip flops though so no worries!

Didn't camp. Just a day trip. Beautiful views out into the ocean. I took a picture that could be the post card epitome of a southern California beach. The weather was nice, sun warming, breeze cooling and the water was a bit warmer than what I am used to which made it lovely. There is a general store which has some food items. You can come and go with admission. Close enough to Santa Barbara that I wouldn't mind camping here for a visit for there. The restrooms near the beach were clean when I went in. BEACH is not dog friendly but they are allowed in other places.

We camped here in a motor home for one night in July in the middle of the week. We arrived in the late evening and it was quite warm still which was nice. The camp host greeted us at our campsite and we were all set. The campground was sold out and it was packed. Our site was #60 which is big and the closest to the water. The site was basic sandy dirt with a fire ring and a picnic table. The beach is full of rocks and isn't really good for walking or wading into the water. Generator hours ended at 8 PM so we weren't able to use the AC to cool off the motor home. It stayed hot until the early morning hours. I felt sorry for people camping in tents. Generator hours don't start until 10:00 AM too so beware for those that need coffee earlier. The night brought lots of bugs and we weren't able to hang outside for very long. The bathrooms were filthy dirty as was the shower. I was only able to get hot water in my shower but the others did work fine. I gave the higher rating for the view which was beautiful but the campground and beach was less than pleasant.

We stayed at Bouchard Group Site starting Friday, July 18th to Sunday July 20th. The grounds were nice and clean. There was some shade provided by trees. The beach was easily accessible by going down a slope or dirt steps. The beach is a rock/pebble beach, with limited sand areas. Though the pebbles being stirred by the waves hurt the ankles, the sound of the water receding through the rocks was very nice.The bathrooms were being serviced when we arrived Friday night at 8 pm so they were nice and clean. They did not get serviced again until Sunday morning, when the showers were cleaned, but not the bathrooms. It had rained on Saturday night so the floors were pretty dirty with mud from our shoes. There was enough toilet paper. There was NO SOAP; and no way to dry the hands either. There were no toilet seat covers. I find the lack of soap unsanitary, as there was the potential of adults or children touching the faucet handle, door lock and door handle with soiled fingers if they forgot to carry their own soap. There were some faucets outside the bathrooms to do dishes but they were about 3 ft. high, with no sink or area where to place the clean dishes. Very uncomfortable. The showers did accept more than one coin at a time (I had read a review where the shower only worked for the time allotted one coin) and the water was a nice temperature. For the night fee, I would expect a sink, toilet seat covers and definitely soap in the bathroom.

The beach is pretty and unique- just a few things to be aware of before you camp! 1. It was full when we stayed which meant you were right on top of other campers, no privacy and lots of noise. 2. Try to get the campsites closest to the ocean so you can actually see it! The hike in camp area looked good too3. Bathrooms are pretty gross and no soap :(4. Seaweed smell on the beach can be strong and lots of sand fleas5. Trains!! The train came through at 2 AM with its breaks on which meant a horribly loud screeching sound for several minutes! Overall it was a neat day site but I wouldn't camp there again.

We camped at Refugio in July 2014 and had a great time. We were disappointed, however, to learn upon check-in that the March 2014 storms had wreaked quite a bit of havoc on the beach. It is now a rock beach, not a sandy beach, which was a bummer. That said, it is camping, and attitude is everything, so we had a great time!!Bring your bikes - there are some fun bike paths with just a couple of steep hills. As for water play, there's a small surf break which is fun for surfers and boogie boarders. Those with tender feet may make good use of some aqua socks, as the rocks are a little rough on your feet. As for the facilities, not too bad. The restrooms are always damp (it is the beach!) and I'd give them 6 out of 10 stars for cleanliness. Plenty of TP, but no towels and no soap. I've seen much, much worse. The showers have hot (not just warm) water and lots of water pressure, which is heavenly after a day in the ocean. There are no electrical outlets (not at the campsites and not in the restrooms), so come prepared for that. The camp-store is well stocked and has a friendly staff. Prices are fair for the convenience of not going back into Goleta. Oh, and the campsites here are much larger than they are at Carpinteria! Some have shade, some don't, so bring your easy-ups if you're looking for a refuge from the sun.If you've camped anywhere along the coast of CA, you know there's usually a little bit of freeway noise and the occasional train passing. At Refugio, the waves are louder than the freeway, so you rarely notice it. The train... (shrugs)... what can you do? It is part of the experience of beach camping in So Cal. It doesn't really bother us.My only other tip is avoid campsite 27. There is some kind of sewer smell there about 30% of the time. I didn't notice it anywhere else in that loop.

nice outback camping, make sure you bring EVERYTHING you need they have ONE store one the campsite but its expensive. why no power plugs in the bathrooms? not even one anywhere? for the money come on some people need emergency recharge now an then of a cell phone. bring your bikes, cool trail to the south.

This was one of several sites we visited on out month-long tour of California and, unfortunately, by far the worst. The location is superb - you are right by the beach - but at a cost of $45 per night I was expecting a lot more. Our site was certainly large but not very pleasant. The worst part were the facilities. The toilets and showers were filthy. The sinks in the toilets were particularly disgusting. The showers were very basic and you had to pay extra for them (24 cents for 2 minutes). There was one nasty sink outside for dish-washing and laundry, and that had no hot water at all.All this would be fine if the site were $12 like Joshua Tree (which had no water, but was actually much cleaner and far more pleasant) but for $45 we were expecting a whole lot more. Compared to the other 6 campgrounds we stayed at this was the most expensive and the least enjoyable.