Month: May 2023

Planning Tips:

#1 – Aim to book your ferry and campgrounds at least a few months in advance.

We booked our ferries and campgrounds in late January/early February for a trip in mid-April, which is still in the park’s off-season. Consider booking even farther out for summer trips when visitation numbers rise. 

 

#2 – Book day trips online.  Book island-to-island and overnight trips over the phone for max flexibility.

Day trips to the islands can be booked directly through the Island Packers website. If you want to stay overnight or be transported directly from one island to another, call and discuss your itinerary for your best options. We were asked to provide our campsite number when booking an overnight trip with Island Packers. Campsites can be booked on Recreation.gov. 

 

#3 – Pack your gear for the ferry appropriately.

You will not be allowed to bring any single item over 45 pounds on the ferry and no more than 60 pounds of gear total. Your luggage should not have any dangling items. Camping and backpacking gear are stored out of reach for the entire ferry ride, so make sure you load your day pack with your camera, snacks, and any gear you’ll want for the next few hours. Gas canisters and rechargeable batteries need to be placed into safety canisters before you board, so have them easily accessible to hand off to the crew! Read more about gear requirements for the ferry here.

 

#4 – Consider using a wagon to transport gear.

The campgrounds are a bit of a walk from the dropoff at the piers.  We used our backpacks to bring gear to our site. However, the Scorpion Canyon Campground and Water Canyon Campground are less than 2 miles from the piers and follow dirt roads. Many campers had wagons and carts they brought and wheeled their gear to and from the campsites instead.

 

#5 – Be prepared for the possibility that your trip could be longer than expected.

Be prepared for the time of your ferry to change, especially in the spring and fall. If wind and waves look like they’ll be building, the ferry may change its operation times for any given day or cancel trips altogether to avoid dangerous conditions. There are no resources to resupply food on the islands, and some campsites do not have water. 

 

#6 – Lock up your food and toiletries.

There are foxes at the campgrounds. They have become very accustomed to people. Yes, they are ridiculously adorable. But yes, they will steal your food. Use the provided fox boxes at each site and don’t feed the wildlife.

 

Helpful links for planning:

• Campsite reservations on Recreation.gov.
• Ferry reservations on Island Packers.
• Snorkeling and kayaking tours through Santa Barbara Adventure Company.
• Channel Islands hiking trails on AllTrails.
• Channel Islands National Park official website.

 

Other nearby attractions:

Santa Monica State Park

 

If you like this, you might also like:

For beaches, tidepools, and coastal rock formations:

• Acadia National Park

 

Recommended pre-trip reading, listening, and viewing:

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell.

Alie Ward’s Dolphinology episode on Ologies.

The Coastal Seas episode of Our Planet on Netflix.

Channel Islands National Park Itinerary

 

Day 1:

We started by taking the ferry to Santa Rosa Island. On our way, we saw Common Dolphins and California Sea Lions. After setting up camp at Water Canyon Campground, we hiked to Lobo Canyon and made some fox friends along the way.

Key Activities: Lobo Canyon Hike (see above).

Slept at: Water Canyon Campground

Day 2:

After a leisurely morning at camp, we walked along Water Canyon Beach to enjoy the coast. We thought we could walk to Skunk Point along the beach and create a loop back on the Coastal Road. This turned out not to be possible as we got cliffed out and had to turn back. After retracing our steps, we followed the Coastal Road to the Skunk Point turnoff, adding the Torrey Pines Trail along the way. We found terrific tide-pooling at Southeast Anchorage.

Key Activities:

• Water Canyon Beach
• Torrey Pines Trail
• Skunk Point
• Tidepooling

Slept at: Water Canyon Campground

Day 3:

We wrapped up our time on Santa Rosa Island by hiking up Black Mountain to view the East Coast, Santa Cruz Island, and even a bit of San Miguel before returning to the pier via the Cherry Canyon Trail which offered astonishing wildflower viewing. There was time for some final tide-pool exploration down on the beach before taking the ferry back to Ventura, where we glimpsed Risso’s dolphins and Humpbacks on the ride back.

Key Activities:

• Black Mountain
  
• Cherry Canyon Trail

Slept at: Point Mugu State Park

Day 4:

After three intense days of hiking, we took a rest day on the mainland. We checked out the Channel Islands National Park Headquarters and arrived just in time to crash a ten-year-old’s birthday and join a tidepool talk.

Key Activities: Channel Islands National Park Headquarters

Slept at: Foster Red Mountain Park (This was the closest camping we could find to the Ventura ferry. You need to get to the ferry early, so we recommend staying as close as possible).

Day 5:

Back to the Islands! We took the boat to Scorpion Anchorage on Santa Cruz Island. Each island has a 60-70 page interpretive guide including self-guided interpretive hikes. You can snag a guide for free at any of the piers or campgrounds. We hiked to Potato Harbor, Cavern Point, and Scorpion Rock Overlook, following the trail guide for Cavern Point.

Key Activities:

• Cavern Point
• Potato Harbor
• Scorpion Rock Overlook

Slept at: Scorpion Canyon Campground

Day 6:

Time to explore the water. We booked a kayak tour with Santa Barbara Adventure Company. I about blacked out with glee when we saw a harbor seal up close and personal lounging on a rock. We also got to kayak through sea caves! Post kayak adventure, we hiked to Smugglers Cove to explore the other side of the island, arriving just in time to see brown pelicans having a feeding frenzy at dusk.

Key Activities:

• Adventure Sea Cave Kayak tour with Santa Barbara Adventure Company
• Smugglers Cove

Slept at: Scorpion Canyon campground

Day 7:

Finally… time to backpack. We loaded up on water (there is no water at the Del Norte Campground and no reliable water source on the trails) and headed up the Montañon Trail over Montañon Ridge. From here, we picked up the Del Norte trail to the Del Norte Backcountry campground for a ~9-mile hike total with some elevation gain to get over that ridge.

Key Activities: Backpack along the Montañon Ridge to Del Norte Campground

Slept at: Del Norte Backcountry Campground

Day 8:

For our last day, we finished our backpacking by heading down to Prisoner’s Harbor pier. We locked up our bags for the day at the pier in the provided fox boxes and hiked the Pelican Bay trail before taking the ferry back to the mainland.

Key Activities: Pelican Bay

Slept at: Foster Red Mountain Campground

See more pictures from my Channel Islands trip on Shutterstock here.