Camping on Santa Rosa Island | Channel Islands National Park - Part 2

March 28th – 30th, 2022

Part two of my visit to Santa Rosa Island in the Channel Islands National Park encompasses day two and day three of the trip. On the morning of day two I arose, had breakfast and was on the trail by 9am. My itinerary for the day was to hike to the top of Black Mountain, then down and through Lobo Canyon and then return to camp with the expectation that I was to hike 16 miles by the end of the day. Little did I know, I was embarking on my most interesting day of all-time.

Black Mountain itself isn’t really all that interesting a peak, but the journey to the summit and the views at the top gave me a spectacular sight of the northern side of the island spanning from east to west. The hike continued along the northwest side of the mountain on an almost nonexistent trail down a ridgeline, through grass and wildflower filled bluffs that eventually lead to Smith Highway. I suppose “highway” in island terms means “rutted fire road”. This road led me to the mouth of Lobo Canyon and after a short one mile hike the coast.

Many of the plants and animals that I saw throughout the day were quite interesting and unlike anything I’ve ever seen. With the mainland only 26 miles away, I still felt like I was visiting another world. This was an experience I will never forget and I feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity to explore this amazing little island.

The Channel Islands National Park was established on March 5th, 1980. The park consists of 5 out of the 8 Channel Islands located off the Southern California Coast. The island of Santa Rosa is the second largest of the five in the park. The other islands include Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, San Miguel and Anacapa.

As a young boy, I’ve fished off of Anacapa Island with my father and brothers, but never set foot on any of the islands in the park. There are 3 other islands that make up the Channel Islands and I’ve only visited Santa Catalina Island as a young Boy Scout and once as a Scout leader. Without a doubt, Santa Rosa Island beats the pants off of Catalina.

It’s sort of ironic, but I was actually trying to put together a trip to visit Catalina Island and hike the Trans-Catalina Trail. After become discouraged with being unable to book campsites and the cost, I decided I needed to find myself another spring backpacking trip. Although, this wasn’t really much of a backpacking trip as it was a campout with a series of days hike, it really couldn’t have ended up any better than what I experienced on Santa Rosa. And if I’m being completely honest, when I head back out to sea for a trip, I will be to visit another one of the five islands in the park. Sorry Catalina, but you’re sort of a distant memory now.

Channel Islands National Park - https://www.nps.gov/chis/index.htm

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Neptune
Bonnie Grace
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