“beautiful mile-long beach”
Twelve miles south of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria State Beach 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 while 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" there, because of naturally-occurring surface tar which was used to seal the boats.
Easily my least favorite and most expensive campsite on my 2 month cross country camping trip. I camped here 10/15/2015. Tent camping was $45, for a patch of ground that was essentially a parking lot surrounded by RVs. RV camping here is even more expensive, I think it was 60 or 70. Also you are close to the road and there is a train that comes by every few hours which is likely to disturb your slumber.
Beautiful beach, but the lack of hot water showers and the 5 am train were not great.
Think "Progressive Potluck" but rather in a campground format. There's the best hike/bike, tent, flat spots, group spots, dry camping, E/W, and E/W/S sites. The day-use area is well maintained. The renovated restrooms and premium sites showcase money well invested.
This is a great location for those who are on Amtrak and want to camp for a night or those with the 5th Wheels with 12 slideouts. One comes to this campground to showcase their rig and best campsite layouts.
The campground does have a party vibe to it in the summer. In the winter - not so much. Town is right there: grocery stores, restaurants.
If you are looking for a first time camping spot: here you go.
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Carpinteria State Beach
Hours
- Sun - Sat: 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
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Parking
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Pets Allowed
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Restrooms
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Wifi
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Wheelchair Accessible
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Credit Cards Accepted
- Max Stay
- 7
- Max Length
- 35 ft
- Affiliation
- State park or forest
- Sites Count
- 216
- Lowest Nightly Rate
- 50
- Back In RV Sites Count
- 22
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Sites
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Laundry
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Propane
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Showers
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Big Rigs
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Boondock
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Firewood
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Fifty Amp
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Slide Outs
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Tent Sites
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Cabin Sites
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Full Hookup
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Paved Sites
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Dump Station
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Mobile Homes
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Public Water
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Pull Through
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Reservations
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Sewer Hookup
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Water Hookup
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Potable Water
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Age Restricted
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Rec Facilities
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Dispersed Sites
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Open Seasonally
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Permit Required
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Back In RV Sites
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Group Tent Sites
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Fulltime Residents
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Standard Tent Sites
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Pull Through RV Sites
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Vehicle Wash Permitted
Campground, Parking, Restrooms
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