Do you love foxes? Do you love very tiny foxes that look like cats and happen to be the apex predators of their ecosystems? Do you love endemic plants? How about really intense wind? Well then Channel Islands National Park might be just for you!
In October 2023 the weekly hiking group I (try my best to) attend organized a group outing to camp for two nights at Channel Islands National Park's Santa Rosa Island at Water Canyon Campground.
Santa Rosa Island is reachable by a three hour boat ride by Island Packers Cruises that leaves from the Port of Ventura. You can explore Santa Rosa as a day trip, make a reservation ahead of time at the Water Canyon Campground, or get a permit ahead of time for a multi-night backcountry backpacking trip. The boat ride is rocky at times so come prepared if you get motion sickness. There are also very particular but easy to follow instructions on what can go in the cargo hold and what gear needs to be carry one. Find out more here.
Water Canyon Campground is a 1.5 mile mostly flat walk from the pier and it is possible to bring an all-terrain wagon with you to cart supplies and gear to the campground. The group of friends I was travelling with are all backpackers and so we still treated the trip as such, bringing just our backpacks to walk to the campground, but there were other groups who brought coolers of food with them.
The beach is a five to ten minute walk away as the campground is located up on the bluffs in a canyon.
From the campground you can still see the ocean and Santa Cruz Island hovering above it like the magical channel island it is. This was the view from my campsite.
And this is the reverse view looking towards the rest of the campground. Each site gets a fairly large windbreak that campers either set up their tents in or use for a cooking area. IT IS VERY WINDY HERE. Bring extra stakes and line to make sure you tent stays put. Some tents in our group broke from the intensity of the wind so come prepared to keep your belongings staked down. Take extra care to make sure your garbage doesn't blow away as well. The campground has two bathrooms with running water and flush toilets and there are many spigots for drinking water around the sites. if you are backpacking make sure to ask ahead about what water sources are available and always filter your water.
And for the love of the foxes, use the most Leave No Trace of Leave No Trace practices while visiting these islands. These cuties were even smaller than I had imagined, they looked to be about the size of a large house cat to me! And they come and go from the campground because they have no fear of humans since they are the apex predators of Santa Rosa. So firece! But serioulsly these top predators had a huge dip in their populations in the 1990's due to several reasons, the spread of distemper from mainland canines and an increase in predation by Golden Eagles after pigs were finally removed from the islands. Some islands saw their fox populations decrease to just 15 wild individuals! Although the population numbers have improved since 2016 lets keep that chart moving in the right direction and do absolutely everything we can to Leave No Trace and protect the endemic flora and fauna of these islands.
And speaking of endemic... you also get to see the endemic Torrey Pine here on Santa Rosa! Found only in two places in the entire world, the Torrey Pine is found here and in San Diego, which is one clue as to how these islands used to be attached to the mainland before moving into the ocean. We hiked the Torrey Pine loop after setting up camp on the first day and it was about 5 to 7 miles round trip.
And that wraps up Day 1 on Santa Rosa Island. On Day 2 we split up and did two different big day hikes both averaging about 13 miles. Stay tuned to learn more about them and the other sights there are to see on this amazing island.
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