Channel Islands National Park — Attraction in Santa Cruz Island

This is not your typical National Park and requires some advanced planning (at least several months ahead) to reach. Channel Islands National Park is an actual island, a boat is required to reach it, you pack in your own gear and supplies. This is not one of the National Parks you can just go to and drive to some easy lookouts, so if that is what you are seeking, you may want to visit one of the other 7 National Parks in California. This park may also be challenging for people with physical disabilities to visit, as it is dirt pathways and many of the trails involve steps or steep inclines. It may also not be the best place for infants- toddlers, as there are not many creature comforts to be found here and once you are on the island, you are stuck there until the next boat.

You first need to secure your place on a boat, we used the Island Packers and went to Scorpion Bay on Santa Cruz Island. During the off season, there are not as many boat times available. Be sure that you arrive at the boat with plenty of time to load your gear. If you aren't at the dock when the time comes to depart, they won't wait- whether you are on the mainland or the island. And you definitely don't want to be THAT person holding up an entire boatload of people. If you plan to stay overnight, you will also need to reserve a campsite. These fill up quickly, and weekends are much more popular. The campsites are very well maintained but they are more primitive. There are vault toilets (some of the cleanest I have actually seen) and a water spout. The water works, for now, but who knows what may happen as the drought worsens. There are no trashcans, so you pack out your trash. And do not expect a general store which you can find at most other parks. You need to bring in your food and gear that you plan to use. You also need to expect a short but easy hike from the dock to the campsite. The single campsites are about .4 miles from the dock, and the group campsites are another .4 miles beyond that. There is plenty of hiking to be found, and trails can be mixed and matched for added distance. If you are an experienced hiker, the trailers are at a moderate difficulty. If you do not have much hiking experience, you may find these trails more strenuous. Do be sure to bring along an actual topographical map, as the one from the website is not that great or detailed. You can also kayak, snorkel, and swim. Water temperatures can drop below 60F (15.5C) outside of summer months, so be prepared for cold water. You can rent all of the gear there or bring your own. There are massive kelp forests lining the shores, and many things to see under the water! There are no large carnivores on the islands, so don't be worried about being eaten whilst hiking. There are adorable island foxes, which are not found anywhere else in the world! They are not afraid of humans, so be sure to stay close to your food and use the provided bear boxes for proper storage. Do not try to pet any of the animals, as they are all still wild and should be viewed from a distance. You definitely don't want to get off the boat and go for a...

I was surprised to see how few reviews existed for this national park relative to some of the others. I figured I should give a shout out to this awesome park that may not be as well known outside of California. It seemed I met most all Californians on the ferry ride and on the island.

For starters, though, this park seems to me to be the top marine-based park in the entire National Park Service system. The waters surrounding the park, and also the channel separating it from the mainland, are apparently great feeding spots for the marine mammals that everyone is excited to see, dolphins, sea lions, and we even saw some mighty blue whales on the ferry. The ride over was anything but boring with sightings of these creatures, especially the dolphins, who seem to delight in jumping out of the water to impress passing humans, and probably catch a wake wave for easier swimming. In any case, awesome marine wildlife.

The park lands are also great, though, we were only able to sample Santa Cruz Island. Santa Cruz seems to be pretty representative, though. The high cliffs make for some stunning ocean and island overlooks. One of my favorite pictures from the entire road trip this year is one from Cavern Point overlooking the ocean and rugged shoreline. Simply delightful in the rustic unspoiled look of it.

I wish I had more time to do more than just the day trip option, because camping on the island looked quite enticing, though backcountry camping on Santa Cruz is a bit limited to basically one area near Prisoner's Harbor. The reasoning is sound, though, since the Channel Islands are similar in some respects to the more famous Galapagos Islands in their natural diversity. Thus, this park cannot allow distributed zone camping along the trails due to nesting concerns, etc. Still, I dream of being able to return someday, and California is lucky to have this park (and so many other...

I can only say something about our visit to East Anacapa this June. The voyage there was fabulous, the staff was fantastic, on land as well as those who steered the boat and showed us the island. As far as nature preservation on the island is concerned though, we were deeply disappointed, and disturbed. When we got to the island we realized that it's a birds' island. The gulls are nesting on every bit of ground they can find, and desperately trying to protect their young. And we were obviously intruding into their territory with almost every step we made, because they started screeching at us from the start, and the island is so densely populated with nesting sea gully. It was quite obvious that there was barely any space on the island where we weren't within their territories. The administration of this so-called "National Biosphere Reserve" is not preserving nature by letting us visit the island while all the gulls are nesting. We were on their territory, disturbing them incessantly, preventing them from feeding their young, driving up their stress level - which is not healthy for any living creature etc. etc. The staff was fabulous. I was very impressed with them. But I think it's neither responsible towards the animals that are to be protected nor does it give justice to this being a "biosphere reserve" to let us visit during nesting season. Nowhere on the website was I warned of what I was to expect - a birds' island with us as intruders. I sincerely hope this will be changed - no matter how much it would cost (financially) - because that is the only reason I can think of that would have us come onto the island during nesting season. I would be grateful - for the sake of wildlife - if those responsible for the island also acted...