A full day excursion to Channel Islands National Park
After spending almost 2 weeks in Palm Springs, we headed out of the desert to spend two nights camped at Foster Park Campground, a city park run by the city of Ventura, California. The park itself wasn’t much to write home about, but the reason we were staying there was so we could spend a day visiting Channel Islands National Park.
Channel Islands National Park is a pretty unique national park in that there are no roads to it. It’s made up of 7 islands that you need to either take a boat out to, or fly to. We opted for a boat to Santa Cruz island. The boat service is run by Island Packers, and they are the only ones with a commercial license to do so. Our trip to Santa Cruz round trip was about $70 per person, so it isn’t cheap by any means. But it is unfortunately the only way to get there so you have to pay it.
We got up and headed to the dock for just after 8am for our 9am departure. Once your tickets have been checked you are checked in and then you just wait until boarding. Our boat was completely full so if you want one of the good seats to see any wildlife from the boat, definitely join the queue early. We managed to get an upstairs seat on the outside of the boat which was a great spot to see the wildlife when the captain called out any sightings. If you’re prone to seasickness, downstairs at the back of the boat is the best place to be (and the crew tell you this) and those seats filled up quick.
Speaking of wildlife, we were lucky enough to see the rarer bottlenose dolphins! A pair of them went swimming along behind the boat jumping out every few seconds. It was quite magical to see. We also got to see a humpback whale do the flapping of its tail too. It was a nice distraction for me as I fought to not get seasick. Tim said the water was “like glass” but I didn’t feel that way so I was focusing very hard on the horizon until the wildlife showed up.
All in all it took about 90 minutes to get to the island of Santa Cruz. We did do a go around to see if we could see the whale again so that added some extra time, but it was worth it for sure. Once you get off the boat, if you are just planning to day hike on the island you must attend a mandatory talk with the ranger at the end of the dock. Basically they tell you that Santa Cruz is a primitive island with basically no services. There are pit toilets at the dock and campground, water is available at the same locations. But that is it. There are no trash cans on the island, no stores, nothing. Anything you bring onto the island that you don’t consume, MUST LEAVE WITH YOU.
Once you’ve had that drilled into you, you’re free to go where you like! We opted to do the Smugglers Road to Scorpion Canyon to Potato Harbor trail which was basically a combination of a few trails to make one large trail that was 8 miles long and covered a decent chunk of the island. We headed out clockwise on the trail which meant the very beginning was STACKED with elevation gain. It should also be noted there is absolutely no shade on the island, there are no tall trees at all. So if you’re doing any hiking in the sun, make sure you packed sunscreen!
I’m not gonna lie the initial elevation gain on this hike was brutal, thankfully the views of the water were pretty stellar while we were doing it. Once we got to the top of our elevation about 1.5 miles in, we went all the way back down into Scorpion Canyon. We met a lot of people who were coming up this way but it actually seemed steeper than what we’d just climbed so I highly recommend our way. At the bottom of the canyon we came to the campground which is where we stopped and ate some lunch. While doing so we got to see one of the islands main attractions: the island fox! These little guys only live in Channel Islands National Park and if you’re at the campground or a picnic area you will likely see one. But please don’t feed them human food!
The adorable island fox!
These cuties will come along at any picnic table and try to steal your lunch.
After finishing our lunch, we climbed out of the canyon and walked along the cliff path to Potato Harbor. Why is this inlet called Potato Harbor you ask? Because the person who discovered it thought the rocks sticking up out of the water looked like potatoes. I can’t say that was my first thought when I saw the harbor from the viewpoint but it is a very pretty view. Just make sure to stay back from the edge as the cliffs are eroding and could collapse. We then backtracked along the cliff to where we came up from the campground and continued along the other direction to Cavern Point which is one of the highest cliff points on the island and offers great 360 degree views of the island and surrounding water.
Time was marching on so we headed back to Scorpion Ranch to check out the visitor center before our boat arrived. It’s a small visitor center but gives you a lot of the long storied history of the island. From the indigenous people who lived on it originally to the settlers that forced them off the land and farmed sheep to the government reclaiming it and using it for ecological purposes. If you have time definitely spend 10-15 minutes reading all the exhibits.
Just before our boat arrived to take us back to the mainland we were sitting at one of the picnic tables having a snack and an island fox wandered by not six feet away from us. They really are so cute!
Our boat ride back to the mainland had another couple of humpback whale sightings but no dolphins this time.
All in all we had a great day trip to Channel Islands National Park. We definitely hiked further than I expected but aside from kayaking that’s all there really is to do on the island. I’d love to go back sometime and do an overnight stay at one of the campgrounds. But this day trip was definitely worth it for now!
