El Capitan State Beach, California

We had dinner yesterday with friends who were camped at El Capitan State Beach north of Santa Barbara, CA. The weather was beautiful and, more importantly, there were a whole lot of open sites. Wish we had gone with them, but they had made reservations six months ago and we assumed the campground would be full. The park ranger said it would be full by Friday and over the weekend. But, at that moment it was nearly empty. Something to keep in mind for next year at this time

El Capitan is a great spot. Here is my pet peeve about reservations in Calif. state parks for RV's and this especially true in Oregon. People who only have weekends to RV deserve the right to reserve just for the weekends but those of us who are not limited by weekends run into the same problem---- you can stay only from Mon. through Fri. and then have to move on to find another RV park. I think that all state parks for RV's should have to keep 10% of the total sites open to only RVers who can reserve longer than just Fri -Sun. Just my 2 cents. Oregon in the summer months is almost impossible to reserve sites because of the "week end" Rvers. Whats your opinion?????

Have you priced the sites at El Capitan..:h...no wonder they have lots of vacancies...and they think a 35' is a "big rig"...:E. in all fairness though, I understand the 'NEW' section will have spacing for larger rigs. That said, if California is true to form, those sites will be taken up by tent trailers pulled by Prius'....:B.....Dennis

Executive wrote:
Have you priced the sites at El Capitan..:h...no wonder they have lots of vacancies...and they think a 35' is a "big rig"...:E. in all fairness though, I understand the 'NEW' section will have spacing for larger rigs. That said, if California is true to form, those sites will be taken up by tent trailers pulled by Prius'....:B.....Dennis

So true, so funny! :B

you can stay only from Mon. through Fri. and then have to move on to find another RV park. I think that all state parks for RV's should have to keep 10% of the total sites open to only RVers who can reserve longer than just Fri -Sun. Just my 2 cents. Oregon in the summer months is almost impossible to reserve sites because of the "week end" Rvers.

You're from N CA so you know what would happen, right? Of course we both know.

CA & OR residents would resereve 7 days and be there for the WE.

I was surprised when my son resererved a Hunington Beach site for $90/day several years ago. His reasons: He works, 24 hr shifts as a firefighter so it's all about the family vacation for 2 weeks every year.

We joined the family and had a great time!

You are probably right, but if you had to pay for the full 7 days even if you only there for the weekend, that would a pretty expensive weekend:):)

you can stay only from Mon. through Fri. and then have to move on to find another RV park. I think that all state parks for RV's should have to keep 10% of the total sites open to only RVers who can reserve longer than just Fri -Sun. Just my 2 cents. Oregon in the summer months is almost impossible to reserve sites because of the "week end" Rvers.

You're from N CA so you know what would happen, right? Of course we both know.

CA & OR residents would resereve 7 days and be there for the WE.

Actually, for CA state parks, if you do not show up by noon of the day after your reservation starts, then it is cancelled. You will get some refund.

I believe you can call and extend the time one day at a time. Another technique is to move the rig to the site even though no one will be inside for some of the days.

We use the popular CGs when we can (often M-F or winter days) and otherwise use Plan B.

lfloom wrote:
Actually, for CA state parks, if you do not show up by noon of the day after your reservation starts, then it is cancelled. You will get some refund.

On multiple times we have come late to our reservation, without calling you are right in CA a reservation will be canceled and balance refunded if you don't show by noon the day after your reservation begins. However, with a call they will hold it for you. Next week in fact we will be a day + late for a reservation due to our kids soccer tournament. Ironically enough that reservation is at El Cap.

Those who think El Cap is expensive, please let us know where you are getting ocean view sites with a 2 min walk to the beach for less?

While you may find empty site this time of year at the coastal state campgrounds, come summer time forget finding more than 1 or 2 sites available for a night in the middle of the week maybe. Problem is to many campers and not enough sites. With the price of land and the coastal commission along with local codes very expensive to build any new or even expand current campgrounds.

djgarcia wrote:
El Capitan is a great spot. Here is my pet peeve about reservations in Calif. state parks for RV's and this especially true in Oregon. People who only have weekends to RV deserve the right to reserve just for the weekends but those of us who are not limited by weekends run into the same problem---- you can stay only from Mon. through Fri. and then have to move on to find another RV park. I think that all state parks for RV's should have to keep 10% of the total sites open to only RVers who can reserve longer than just Fri -Sun. Just my 2 cents. Oregon in the summer months is almost impossible to reserve sites because of the "week end" Rvers. Whats your opinion?????

My opinion is it's a totally level playing field. You and the weekend warriors have the same chance to reserve for your chosen time frame when the booking window opens.

"Only Monday to Friday" would be a shiny gift with a bow on top to anybody in the east who tries every year to get a site at Florida Keys state parks. We get excited about scoring one day's stay.