Refugio State Beach Park reopened on Aug. 1, but there's something missing.
"We're kind of bummed they cut some of the Canary Island palm trees down. I think a lot of people are kind of bummed about that," said camper Scherri Hayley.
"I was quite shocked actually," beachgoer Victoria Becica said of the missing palms trees.
"You know, they were part of the history of this beach," added camper Sherri Boushay.
Sixteen of the historic palms that used to line Refugio State Beach for the past century are now gone after winter storms caused damage to the park and the coastline, according to California State Parks, causing a full closure of the park since February.
"We should have been here last month and it was closed, so we had to make other arrangements to do our camping," said camper Don Boushay.
The Boushays and their dog, Levi, camp here every year and say they wish the state would do more to protect the coastline.
"If they would maybe do some kind of rock retaining, that kind of thing," Sherri said.
Additional repairs at the park included replacing a busted culvert, repairing a sinkhole at the entrance of the park, and removal of debris from the day-use areas and campground. California State Parks says it is working on improving park resilience with its 2023 General Plan Project and in May, they began the public feedback process.
