We loved the cliff side scenery of the Cavern Point and Potato Harbor. We disappointingly did not see any island foxes, but there were lots of little lizards, crows, butterflies, and other birds. Be aware that there are no trash cans.pack out what you pack in.

There are also some changing rooms near the Pier. Toilets are pit toilets, but were clean and well stocked with toilet paper and hand sanitizer and are located near the Pier and also at the campground. There are a few of the former sheep ranch buildings and equipment to see, including the park service exhibits near the pier. We did this trail counterclockwise, so we were along the cliffs initially, ate our lunch at Potato Harbor enjoying the view and listening to the sea lions, then refilled water at campground with a rest under the shade trees there, but that meant we were on the uphill and exposed inland part during the hottest part of the day. That allowed us plenty of time to do the 8 mile Potato Harbor/Scorpion Canyon/Smugglers Road loop.including a 30 minute lunch stop, a short restroom/water refill/rest at a picnic table at the campground, several photo stops, and time to visit the NPS exhibits. We took the 9:00am and the 4:30 pm Island Packers shuttles. We spent an enjoyable day hiking on Santa Cruz Island. I’m glad that we were able to see this island, and at some point in the future wouldn’t mind visiting one of the other islands. That being said, it only took an hour to get back to the beach. This path was entirely downhill, but was still tricky, because the path was dirt with small and large stones so you were constantly trying to keep your balance down this incline. We returned on Potato Harbor Road, which led to the campground, and eventually to the beach. Fortunately, there is another road down to return to the beach area. There were several times where we were going steep way down and then steeply up such that it took us about two hours to go the 2 1/2 miles to Potato Harbor.Īs we were hiking, I was getting a little concerned, thinking it would be difficult to return along that trail, because some of the trail that we ascended was covered in grass clippings, which I thought would be fairly slippery to go back down.

Once you were at the top of this hike, that does not mean elevation changes are over. We enjoyed the wildflowers that seem to be everywhere, as well as the squadron of pelicans that seem to pass by every few minutes. There are lots of good viewpoints from up there. It is a fairly steep climb to get up to the trail which runs along the cliff edge. There were a few school groups that came over on a different boat, but the island is big enough where it didn’t feel crowded and much of the time we were by ourselves on our hike.įrom the visitor center we hiked up to Cavern Point, and then continued our hike to Potato Harbor. On arrival at the island there was a brief orientation by a park volunteer. We visited this island on a day trip with island Packers.

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