El Capitán State Beach is a protected beach in the state park system of California. It is located about 20mi west of downtown Santa Barbara. The beach is named after José Francisco Ortega, who retired from the Spanish Army in 1795 with the rank of captain and received the Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio as a land grant.FeaturesEl Capitán has a day-use beach as well as a campground with 131 sites — 6 of which are RV only — and 5 group sites. There are tide pools on the beach and sycamore and oak trees in the campground area. Monarch butterflies congregate at El Capitán in autumn to breed.HistoryThe Refugio oil spill occurred just north of nearby Refugio State Beach in 2015 when a pipeline ruptured. The spill went into a culvert that ran under the U.S. 101 and into the ocean. The spill spread over 7miles including this park and Refugio State Beach. The parks were closed for much of the summer during the clean-up including the typically busy Memorial Day Weekend. The water system was destroyed in 2016 when the Sherpa Fire swept through a canyon near the main campgrounds. The park had already closed due to the smoke and fire danger.
