Kayak sea caves and fend off foxes at
SANTA CRUZ ISLAND
What if a chunk of California broke off and began to float away before anyone had time to build an overpriced house on it? You’d get something like Santa Cruz Island, the largest, most popular portion of Channel Islands National Park.
The island’s Scorpion Anchorage, where most visitors arrive, is about an hour’s boat ride via Island Packers from Ventura Harbor. (That’s also where the park’s visitor center is.) You can camp (one campground, 31 sites), and you can kayak in sea caves with a guide and rented vessel from Channel Islands Adventure Co. Or hike to Smugglers Cove and back. To the east of Smugglers Road, you’ll see that portion of the island is recovering from the 1,411-acre Scorpion fire of 2020. Still, it’s easy to imagine when the island was a working ranch, and before. Nowadays, the park service controls about a quarter of it, including Scorpion Anchorage. The other three-quarters of Santa Cruz is off-limits, owned by the Nature Conservancy.
Whether you’re camping or just picnicking, keep an eye out for island foxes: The onceembattled population is now so numerous and bold that one may well take a run at your picnic table. Lock up your food.
BONUS TIP: There’s another channel island closer to the mainland than Santa Cruz. It’s tiny Anacapa, where you can find a 1932 lighthouse, spectacular views, two miles of trails, a minuscule campground (seven sites, no water) and enough swooping, shrieking seabirds to trouble Alfred Hitchcock’s dreams. From March through August, gulls nest there and — well, let the park service explain: “Visitors will encounter seabird rookery conditions: guano, strong odor, constant noise, bird carcasses, and birds protecting their territory. If visitors consider these conditions adverse, it is advised that they visit another island.”