Refugio State Beach (
Chumash: Qasil, "Beautiful") is a protected state
beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...
park in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
, United States, approximately west of
Santa Barbara.
One of three state parks along the
Gaviota Coast
The Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County, California is a rural coastline along the Santa Barbara Channel roughly bounded by the city of Goleta on the south and the north boundary of the county on the north. This last undeveloped stretch of ...
, it is west of
El Capitán State Beach
El Capitán State Beach is a protected beach in the state park system of California. The most easterly of three state parks along the Gaviota Coast, it is located about west of downtown Santa Barbara, in Santa Barbara County. The beach is nam ...
. During the summer months, the Junior Life Guard program resides at the beach during the day.
The
Refugio oil spill occurred just north of the park in 2015 when a pipeline carrying
crude oil ruptured. The spill went into a culvert that ran under
US 101 and into the ocean. The spill spread over of coastline, including Refugio and El Capitán state beaches. The parks were closed during the clean-up, including during the typically busy
Memorial Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
weekend. The pipeline which caused the disaster is no longer in service.
See also
*
List of beaches in California
*
List of California state parks
This is a list of parks, historic resources, reserves and recreation areas in the California State Parks system.
List of parks
See also
* California State Beaches
* List of California State Historic Parks
*Parks in California
A park ...
References
External links
"Refugio State Beach" California Department of Parks and Recreation. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
Beaches of Southern California
California State Beaches
Parks in Santa Barbara County, California
Beaches of Santa Barbara County, California
{{SantaBarbaraCountyCA-geo-stub