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El Capitan Canyon: get away from it all El Capitan Canyon

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El Capitan Canyon is a beautiful place tucked away just north of Santa Barbara and Goleta, California. It is right off of the 101 freeway, which sounds noisy, but as soon as you enter the campgrounds you feel like you’re miles away from civilization.

As I said, although El Capitan Canyon is just off the 101 freeway, it feels hidden away, like you are out in the middle of nature in a beautiful place, which you definitely are. When we first decided to stay here, it seemed a bit strange because we live in Santa Barbara. But we wanted to have a quick getaway, away from chores and such for a weekend out of the house. I hadn’t even known that this place existed, because the only other time we had come here, several years ago I think, it was just a picnic ground area. Apparently they’ve developed it and made it into this great place to camp. The best part of all, for me anyway, is that it is a great place to “camp” for people who don’t really like to rough it too much and go camping!

What I mean by this is that I am not an especially rugged person. I dislike sleeping on the ground, even in a sleeping bag. I’m not that much into bugs either. (Been there done that, with an anthill nearby, but that’s another story.) What’s great about El Capitan Canyon is that you are given what amounts to a cool little cabin (made of cedar) that is A-frame shape and is elevated about a foot off the ground. You go up one or two little steps onto your deck and your cabin is one room with a bed and ALL of the necessary amenities. The size of the room is a decent 12 x 14. It amounts to a hotel room out in the woods. It is so quiet and feels wonderful to “get away from it all”. The front doors are two windows with long curtains and zip-down flaps too, so you can choose to sleep with it open or closed. Of course, if open you can enjoy the moonlight and stars. In the morning, you may get your camping neighbors peeking in as they walk by, but that’s the chance you take. The other windows have screens and flap covers too, in case you wish to open them.

Talk about peaceful! Our night here was really quiet and we slept very well. The management of El Capitan Canyon do take care of all the details and the bed linens, for example, were especially luxurious. Our neighbors, while in fairly close proximity, were all respectful of one another and stayed quiet. We really heard nothing more than people talking quietly in their cabins, if that. No cars are permitted in the canyon either, which we really liked. Less noise, no engine sounds, no fumes, it was really quiet! You park down in the main parking lot and can grab a shuttle if you have a lot to carry, up to your cabin. Oh, there is no TV either. Almost forgot to mention that! So you can spend a nice quiet evening reading, talking, sipping wine, or whatever.

Yes, these are similar in the respect to a hotel room because you have a bed, table, chair, and small bathroom and shower (water pressure was fine). We even had a small fridge and microwave, as the cabins do have electricity. In the morning, we woke up and pulled together a simple breakfast of cereal and fruit, that we had brought along. I believe there are varying prices in the cabins, because I know some of them have lofts too. There is also a large sized cabin available for groups or families. (I thought this might be fun for a family reunion sometime.) There are also regular tents available, if you prefer truly roughing it. The price for the tents are much less, around $145 during summer months. The furniture is not typical hotel room furniture though. It is more natural and rough-looking (sometimes unfinished) wooden furniture.

Outside of each tent and cabin is your own fire pit with picnic table. Of course, we had to have a bbq (tri-tip) and brought all the necessities along with us. You will also need to bring your own utensils, because these are not provided. (An actual Costco and other stores are all within 5 miles, so no worries if you forget something essential.)

There is a “Canyon Store”, also built of cedar, on the grounds too, stocked with all kinds of goodies and necessities for the traveler. They have toothpaste, mouthwash, and so on, but they also have lots of souvenirs, such as T-shirts and even higher priced unique crafts and art created by local artisans. I enjoyed poking around in here. Didn’t really buy much, but it was definitely fun to look around. Just outside the store is a large lawn area and several picnic tables, very handy. We threw the frisbee around here one early evening for a little while.

The way the canyon’s cabins are situated have been planned out really well. The cabins all progress up the canyon, so you can get pretty far up, if you’d like, or stay closer in, depending on availability, of course, and your own preferences. The further up the canyon, the more “back to nature” you get. You’re surrounded by oak trees and sycamores too. You are definitely liable to see all kinds of critters too, such as rabbits, skunks, deer, and maybe even a bobcat. (Watch out for coyotes here too, especially if you bring your dog along.)

The price is a bit higher than typical camping. Our cabin was called a “Canyon Cabin” which was priced at $225. During the off-season (considered December through March) the prices are lower. The cabin we got would be $185 during the off season months.

El Capitan Canyon is located 5 miles north of Goleta, California, just off of Highway 101 at the El Capitan exit. This is not to be confused with the El Capitan exit on the Southbound side of the 101 (just across the freeway) which is indeed, just a campground. Also, a nice feature here is the Summer Canyon Concert series, every Saturday night at 6 pm. You can hear blues, jazz or bluegrass music under the stars. (They also provide a BBQ dinner at an additional fee, if you wish to do that.) We got to hear from lively bluegrass when we were here.

Of course, the beach is very close and there are hiking trails galore. There is also a great swimming pool we took advantage of too! If you wish, there are massage treatments (in a “yurt”) available. There are bicycles available at no charge if you’d like to take to the bike paths. We did go on a short bike ride, but gave up pretty quickly, due to the hills….we’re wimps!

For thousands of years, this was a Chumash Indian village area and they called it “Ajuilashmu” which means “the dancing place of celebration by the sea.”

Before summer ends and school starts, this would be a terrific getaway, if you can manage it. It feels like you are much further away than you really are and you can forget the stress for a short time. Although it sounds somewhat pricey, if you consider what you would pay for a hotel room, it is comparable, and a lot more private, cozy, and quiet.

El Capitan Canyon

1-866-352-2729

elcapitancanyon.com

11560 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, CA 93117

~thanks for reading~

©gkm.

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