An Incredible Day trip to Channel Islands National Park
Visiting the Channel Islands National Park was on my California bucket list, and I recently got the opportunity to visit it during a trip to Santa Barbara with my family. I kept a full day aside to explore the Channel Islands.
Channel Islands is a lesser-known national park in California, and even many locals do not know about it or have experienced it. Only National Park enthusiasts find their way here.
The islands are really primitive and untouched. It was such an amazing experience to be in a place where there is nothing but nature. The land, the ocean, the fog in the air, the occasional wildlife, and very few people on the trails. It was truly a rejuvenating experience and a great day trip to this hidden gem of California.
Let’s dive into the details of how to visit the Channel Islands and what to do there.
Where are the Channel Islands?
The Channel Islands are located off the southern coast of California, an hour south of Santa Barbara. They are typically accessed by taking a ferry from Ventura or Oxnard Harbor.
Even though they are just an hour-long boat ride away from the mainland, these islands feel like a whole new world with their untouched landscapes, diverse wildlife, and rugged cliffs. I have truly never seen anything so raw and undeveloped!
Taking a day trip to the Channel Islands is one of the unique things to do in Santa Barbara.
Best Island to visit for first-timers
The Channel Islands National Park includes five islands: Santa Cruz, Anacapa, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara.
For first-timers, Santa Cruz Island is the ideal choice, and that is where we went. It’s the largest of the Channel Islands and offers a little bit of everything: scenic hikes, beautiful beaches, sea caves for kayaking, rich wildlife, and camping facilities.
The island also has a range of well-maintained trails, making it great for a day hike. It’s easily accessible by boat, and compared to the other islands, there are more amenities like restrooms (although vault-type) and picnic areas.
Next time around, I will check out Anacapa Island, as the pictures of the narrow islands look really spectacular! But I still think Santa Cruz Island is great for first-timers.
How to get to Channel Islands National Park?
To get to Channel Islands National Park, you’ll need to take a boat since there are no bridges or roads connecting the islands to the mainland.
Island Packers is the official ferry service that offers trips to the Channel Islands. Ferry boats depart from Ventura and Oxnard harbors, and the trip to the islands usually takes around one to two hours, depending on which island you’re visiting.
Santa Cruz Island has two destinations – Scorpion Cove and Prisoners Harbor. While booking the ferry, you need to pick which destination to go to.
Scorpion Cove is where the majority of the hiking trails are and where most people go. We took the ferry from Ventura Harbor to Scorpion Cove.
We booked a 10 AM ferry from Ventura to Scorpion Cove and a 4:30 PM return ferry from Scorpion Cove to Ventura.
It’s a good idea to book your tickets in advance, especially during the spring and summer seasons. We visited in early August, and when I booked a month before, most of the boat times for our trip dates were already sold out.
Our Channel Islands day trip Itinerary
We were staying in Santa Barbara and had booked the ferry from Ventura to Scorpion Cove for 10 AM. The reservation instructed us to reach 45 minutes before departure time, so we started from Santa Barbara around 7:45 AM, as it was an hour’s drive to Venture Harbor.
Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center
I love visiting National Park visitor centers as they are a wealth of information. We reached 30 minutes early to check out the Channels Islands Visitor Center. It is at the end of Spinnaker Dr, just a little further from the Island Packers ferry terminal.
The visitor center had 3D table maps of the islands, interactive displays, and a short documentary film that gives you an overview of the park. We didn’t have time for the film but the displays were great. There was a gift shop and a tide pool exhibit as well. The rangers were available to provide any information needed about the islands.
On the 3D map of Santa Cruz Island, the Potato Harbor hike looked so small in size as compared to the rest of the island, which is what our main agenda was!
Bring food and water
Harbor Cove Cafe next door has breakfast burritos and lunch sandwiches that you can purchase for your day trip. Food is not available for purchase on any of the islands, so make sure you carry food.
We purchased some light snacks and food on the way as my husband gets seasick easily, so we wanted to avoid heavy meals.
There is a water tap at the island campground in case you run out, but we carried enough water with us too.
Note: There are no trash bins anywhere on the island, so make sure to bring a bag to take back all your trash with you.
The Boat Ride
Once we reached the Island Packers address provided on the ticket, we checked in and got our boarding passes. We were in line for the boat 30 minutes before our departure time, and the boarding started around 15 minutes before.
The boat has two levels and we picked a seat around the middle section of the boat at the lower level. You might have to share the table with other passengers if the boat is full.
There is outdoor seating as well in the back of the boat, but it can be very windy. The boat has restrooms and a snack station with drinks and snacks for purchase.
The boat ride started out smooth but then got really choppy. My poor husband had a hard time even with motion sickness medicine. Luckily I don’t get seasick easily so I was fine.
The boat ride was 75 minutes long. The crew would announce any wildlife so that everyone could see.
I saw sea lions lounging on buoys and a huge flock of sea birds, but the best of all was a mega pod of dolphins (hundreds of them!) swimming with the boat. It was quite a sight! My husband was just trying to get through the boat ride and slept through most of it 🙂
It was very cold, windy, and foggy throughout the boat ride, but as soon as the boat approached the island, it was clear and sunny there!
Disembarkation on the Island
Once we disembarked the boat on the Scorpion Anchorage terminal at Santa Cruz Island, the rangers provided a briefing about the rules to all visitors.
There are vault restrooms at the terminal and some lockers to keep belongings. There is a Channel Islands National Park sign on the pier, which is a great photo op! The Scorpion Ranch Visitor Center is cool to check out.
There are only two ways to go from here.
- While facing the island, the left trail goes to the campgrounds and then to the Potato Harbor Overlook with a gradual incline.
- While facing the island, the trail to the right has a steep incline to Cavern Point first, and then continues to Potato Harbor Overlook.
Both trails meet a little before the Potato Harbor Overlook, so the best way is to do the whole loop. We took the left trail and started from the campgrounds first and came back via the ocean side trail. But I think starting from the Ocean side is better as you don’t notice the incline with the ocean views.
Potato Harbor Overlook Hike
Cavern Point and Potato Harbor Overlook loop trail is the most popular hiking trail on the Channel Islands for day trippers.
Cavern Point loop is around 2 miles, and if you extend the hike beyond Cavern Point to Potato Harbor Overlook, its around 5 miles with 600 feet of elevation gain.
You can do the Potato Harbor hike as an out an back hike via the ocean trail, or as a loop by coming down the campground. We did the hike as a loop and started from the campground side first and then came back via the ocean side. The loop was around 6 miles and took us around 3.5 hours but we took our time and stopped a lot.
If I had to do it again, I would go up the ocean side trail first as coming back via the campground seemed an easier route.
It was sunny at the start, but as we climbed up, the vistas became foggy. There are many microclimates on the island. Even though it was sunny at the campground and the harbor, it was really foggy at Cavern Point and again at Potato Harbor Overlook. So, unfortunately, we didn’t see much of the ocean views along the hike, which was a bummer.
The hike itself was peaceful and scenic with just me and my husband on the trail for long stretches of time. Even though we came with a boatload of people, the island is so vast that everyone got dispersed real quick. The only time we saw folks was at Cavern Point and the Potato Harbor Overlook.
The ravens at the Potato Harbor Overlook were notoriously looking to snatch food. There were folks who took out food to eat at the overlook, and the ravens flew really low over them in an attempt to take food. We tried to, but it seemed impossible to eat our lunch at the overlook or Cavern Point with the ravens. So we ate it once we got back to the Scorpion Cove ferry terminal.
Boat Ride back
Our return ferry was for 4:30 PM, so we were back at the Scorpion Cove pier around 4 PM. We had docked at 11:30 AM in the morning. So we had around 4.5 hours on the island for our hike and exploration, which was plenty as I am a slow hiker and I stop a lot for photos! If you plan to add a kayaking tour look for an earlier ferry in the morning.
We were spent once back on the ferry, and the boat ride back was pretty uneventful with most folks sleeping 🙂 There was a huge flock of seabirds at one point seen from the ferry which was pretty cool!
More Things to Do in Channel Islands
Even though we just did the Potato Harbor and Cavern Point loop hike, there are some other things to do while visiting Channel Islands National Park.
More Hiking
There are more hiking trails on Santa Cruz Island, like the strenuous Smugglers Cove trail that leads to Smugglers Cove Beach. Prisoner’s Harbor, the other terminal at Santa Cruz Island, also has moderate to strenuous hikes.
Kayaking
Kayaking the sea caves is the most popular activity at Channel Islands, and many folks make the trip here just for this. My husband and I enjoy hiking more, but if kayaking is your thing, you should definitely experience it.
We saw a booth for kayak tours near the campground on the island. Channel Islands Adventure Company is the official kayak tour company in the Channel Islands. They offer guided kayak and snorkeling tours.
Camping
The Scorpion Anchorage campground is available for camping (reservations required), and the only facilities are picnic tables, water, and vault toilets. We saw several tents while we were passing through the campground during our hike.
Wildlife Viewing
The Island fox is a native of the Channel Islands, but we didn’t see any that day during our hike. Would have loved to see one! We saw ravens on the island, several sea birds, sea lions, and a huge pod of dolphins on the boat ride. Did not see any whales though in August.
Travel Tips for visiting Channel Islands
Based on our experience visiting Channel Islands, the below tips will help you plan your trip to the Channel Islands National Park.
Where to stay for visiting the Channel Islands?
We stayed at Hotel Milo in Santa Barbara and drove an hour each way to Ventura Harbor for the ferry to the Channel Islands. I debated whether to stay in Ventura the night before but then decided against it because I didn’t want to add another hotel to our trip for one night.
But I had shortlisted Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Ventura right on Ventura Harbor if we had decided to stay in Ventura.
Best time to visit the Channel Islands
Spring, summer, and fall are all great seasons to visit the Channel Islands. We visited in early August, so it was late summer, and the weather was perfect for hiking. It was neither hot nor cold. It was foggy the day we visited, though. Fog can also be present during the summer months.
Spring would be a great time as the island would have plenty of wildflowers which would be amazing to see. We did see some wildflowers!
Facilities at Channel Islands
The Channel Islands have very limited facilities.
- There are only vault toilets (i.e. no running water to flush or wash hands).
- The only drinking water available is from the tap at the campground.
- There is no food available on the island, so plan to bring your own food and water.
- You have to take all your trash back to the mainland as there are no trashcans, even in the campgrounds!
- You have to walk everywhere, there is no other transportation on the Islands, and all roads and trails are dirt roads.
- It didn’t seem to me like the islands were wheelchair or stroller accessible, as the dirt trails were uneven and rocky, and the hiking trails had inclines and occasional stairs.
Final Takeaways: Visiting Channel Islands National Park
This brings us to the end of our day trip to Channel Islands National Park. I am so glad that I reserved an extra day in our Santa Barbara itinerary to visit this amazing California National Park hidden in plain sight.
The hike was incredibly peaceful and scenic, even though it was foggy. My husband and I enjoyed spending quality time together and with nature on these remote islands! Plus, the pod of dolphins I saw on the boat ride is one of my best memories!
Up next, read about my experiences exploring other National Parks in California.
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