The project focuses entirely on the entrance to the park, currently a two-lane road with no sidewalks that travels over an old bridge to be serviced by an aging kiosk. “It’s a really exciting project, and probably years overdue,” said Bellman. That’s why it’s often sold-out, even in the off-season, and is popular with tourists and locals alike. The ever-popular campground, which overlooks the beach along the Gaviota Coast just a few miles from Goleta, features more than 130 camp sites, many of which can accommodate RVs, bicycle trekkers, and larger groups. “So we are still trying to get those permits, but our plan, and the funding, and the way we need to approach it really needs to start on September 1.” In fact, it was slated to start a year earlier, before COVID threw a wrench in those plans. “We didn’t come out with a big shabang about it because COVID has slowed down a lot of things, and getting agencies to issues permits has been a real challenge,” said Dena Bellman, who took over as the State Parks Channel Coast District Planning Chief and PIO in January 2019. The good news, for those with patience, is that the closure will allow State Parks to build a new entry road to accommodate more cars a new bridge over the creek near the entrance to the park, with ample room for steelhead trout passage beneath a larger kiosk for rangers to process day-use and camping visitors and an ADA-accessible trail along the entrance road to allow safer access for pedestrians, who currently must walk along the road to reach the beach and campground.
That’s according to a notice on the state-run campground’s website, which is somewhat buried beneath the long list of COVID-related rules and announcements. Coastal campers, here’s the bad news: El Capitán State Beach is going to completely close for about one year starting on September 1, 2021.
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