Our Guide to 2 Days in Channel Islands National Park
Channel Islands National Park is actually an epic US National Park that truly inspired us. Despite the research required to plan the trip, there were still so many pleasant surprises. We really enjoyed our time here way more than we originally thought we were going to. Here is our guide on how to get the most out of your trip to Channel Island National Park in 2 days!
Where is Channel Islands National Park?
It’s not surprising but a lot of people out there are unfamiliar with Channel Islands National Park. It is not the most iconic of US National Parks and it’s a little more difficult to get to. Off the coast of California, Channel Islands National Park encompasses five islands and their surrounding 1 mile of ocean. As we are from Virginia, we flew into LAX and drove up to Oxnard/Ventura from there.
How do I get to Channel Islands National Park?
The islands are only accessible by park concessionaire boats through Island Packers or private boats. The tickets through Island Packers do sell out in advance so make sure to book your tickets early in order to guarantee your ability to get to an island. When we went, tickets were $63 round trip per person. This particular itinerary involves going to two separate islands so you will have to multiply that cost by 2 in order to account for both days in the park. The fares to reach some of the farther islands are even more expensive. We were not particularly happy about the added cost as this seems to make the park less financially accessible, but the crew members do a great job of being on the lookout for wildlife during the trip across the channel. When buying your tickets, make sure to pick the earliest departure and the latest return in order to maximize your time on the islands.
What Should I Bring on My Trip to Channel Islands National Park?
You will need to bring enough food and water for the day with you on your trip. There are no services or lodging on any of the islands. There are some food and drink options that you can buy on the Island Packers boat ride over to the islands, but we’d definitely recommend preparing ahead of time as options may be limited. Fortunately, there are restrooms on the islands.
If you plan on camping on an island during your time at Channel Islands National Park, you will also need to bring your camping gear. You can reserve your primitive camping spot in advance at: https://www.recreation.gov/camping/gateways/2631
Please remember to leave no trace while you are on the islands. There are absolutely no trash cans anywhere on the islands so anything that you bring with you out to the islands, will need to also return with you. Without further ado, here are our recommendations on how to spend 2 days in Channel Islands National Park.
Day 1
Boat Ride to Santa Cruz Island
Start off day 1 with a boat ride via Island Packers to Santa Cruz Island at Scorpion Cove. Make sure to choose the earliest possible time in order to maximize your time on the island. The boat ride takes 1.5 to 2 hours and make sure to pack extra layers for the morning ride since it can be rather chilly with the wind at any time of year. Be on the lookout for wildlife as there is the possibility to see dolphins, sea lions, sunfish, and even whales. The crew will make sure to slow down and even in some cases follow wildlife (at a safe distance), especially in the case of whales.
Sea Kayaking
For the first half of your day, we would highly recommend reserving the Discovery Sea Cave Kayak Tour in advance through the Channel Islands Adventure Company (authorized concessionaire). All of their kayak tours do tend to sell out in advance, especially on weekends, so make sure to book this one as soon as you are able in order to ensure your experience.
We absolutely LOVED our experience. You spend 1.5 hours kayaking through sea caves, kelp forests and beautiful coastlines. Trust me when we say that viewing Santa Cruz from the water was equally as amazing an experience as viewing the island from the land. Choosing the Discovery tour gave us the best of all worlds as we were able to experience half our day on the water and half our day exploring on land. We would highly recommend bringing a completely separate dry outfit to change into after your kayak tour before exploring the island on land.
Lunch
Stop for a quick lunch break near Lower Scorpion Campground. The main reason why we would love this stop is because island foxes tend to hang around the campground. These cute island foxes are about ⅓ the size of foxes in the contiguous US. But do not let their cuteness fool you, they will go after your food. It is extremely important for their safety that you do not feed the foxes under any circumstances. Don’t make a poor decision due to their adorable nature.
Hiking Potato Harbor Trail
For the rest of day 2, hike the Potato Harbor Trail. The out and back trail is 5.2 miles and usually takes an average of 2 hours and 15 minutes to complete. The views change throughout the hike and you will see a diversity of landscapes that will honestly keep you entertained for hours. It was definitely one of those hikes that consistently had views as opposed to a long hike in order to reach one main view point at the end. We had so much fun walking this trail and we did not encounter very many people so the experience was extraordinarily peaceful. Make sure you pay attention to your watches and make it back to the boat for the return trip to mainland on time. You do not want to miss your ride and be stuck on the island for the night without the tools you need. If you don’t have time for the full Potato Harbor Trail, the Cavern Point Loop is a nice shorter alternative.
Day 2
Boat Ride to Anacapa
Similar to day 1, the boat ride to Anacapa will take about 1.5 hours and make sure to bring extra layers for the morning trip. Kelley brought a blanket with her and she was so thankful she did.
Hike East Anacapa Island Trail
Anacapa Island is a SMALL island in comparison to Santa Cruz Island. East Anacapa Island Trail is an easy 2.5 mile loop that takes you around the entire island in a little over an hour. The most awe-inspiring view of the island is Inspiration Point, where you can see Middle and West Anacapa Islands. It was cloudy/foggy on the day we visited, but we had ample time to return to Inspiration Point once the clouds had cleared some later in the day. There is also a cute lighthouse on the island and various overhead viewpoints of sea lions as well.
KEEP IN MIND: If you are not a fan of birds, we would not recommend visiting Anacapa from May-July. This is nesting season and there are about 10,000 western gulls in nests around the island as a result. The birds are extremely loud and will annoy you with their constant squawking and flying overhead. They are not aggressive, however, but more of just a nuisance. When we went in late May, Carl wore his hood throughout the day because he was afraid of being pooped on.
It should be easy to make it back to your meeting point on Anacapa Island, as you can easily explore the entire island in less than 2 hours. If you do decide to camp overnight, we have heard that sunset at Inspiration Point is incredible.
Final Thoughts:
Despite the price and overall difficulty of getting to Channel Islands National Park, we found the trip highly rewarding overall. In fact, here are 5 reasons we loved Channel Islands National Park:
The peace & serenity: It was an amazing feeling being able to hike around a US National Park without seeing other people for long periods of time. Since there are limited boat tickets to get to the islands, this automatically limits the number of people you actually can encounter while exploring the islands.
The diverse landscapes: The different islands range in diversity from ocean views with incredible cliffs & rocky outcroppings, to rolling hills and fields of wildflowers. It was amazing never truly knowing what was in store around the next corner or over the next hill.
The abundance of life: We saw the cutest little island foxes and numerous birds. We saw fields of various wildflowers that are beyond beautiful & abundant in the springtime. From the cliff edges you can see kelp beds & sea lions. It was incredible.
The simplicity: There is no infrastructure on the islands other than a few buildings for NPS rangers. There is no running water. You bring everything you need and you take everything with you when you leave. It’s such a simple way to live and preserve the beauty of the island.
The spectacular views with minimal effort: In all seriousness, we are not super hikers. When hiking around Santa Cruz Island and Anacapa, there were times with some elevation, but honestly we were able to cover a lot of distance with less effort than we were expecting with incredible views at all times.
