Trail Review: Scorpion Canyon Loop and Cavern Point, Channel Islands National Park
Trail Head: Scorpion Anchorage, Ventura, CA 93001
Parking: To get to the Channel Islands, you need to purchase a ferry ticket from Island Packers in Ventura, CA. Parking at the harbor is free. For more information on the ferry, click HERE.
Distance: Approx. 6 miles loop
Difficulty: moderate to challenging
The Channel Islands are a national park only about an hour drive from Los Angeles. The only way to access the islands is by ferry boat. Island Packers is the company that is contracted to bring people to and from the islands and they have very specific times for their boats so this kind of trip does require some advance planning!
There are a few islands you can visit, but we chose Santa Cruz Island which is the biggest one, and we chose to get off at Scorpion Anchorage which is the closest dock. The boat ride itself is an hour to an hour and a half to get to Scorpion Anchorage which was a little long, but it was broken up by a number of wildlife encounters.
Once off the boat at Scorpion Anchorage, there are some rudimentary bathrooms available, a small museum, and the facilities for kayaking and snorkeling. After passing by those structures though, it's just hiking trails and campgrounds.
There is pretty good signage at each intersection so it won't be hard to find the Scorpion Canyon Loop trail. It's the first left turn you can take after you pass by the Scorpion Ranch museum and there is a nice, large windmill on the left of the trail. We did the trail clockwise because if you do the trail counterclockwise, there is a very steep section in the middle that you'd have to climb and we wanted to avoid that. If you wanted to do the trail counterclockwise though, you would continue straight.
Once on the lefthand trail, the path climbs up the edge of the hill pretty quickly. We were soon up above the cove where the boat docked and could see quite a bit of the ocean. As the trail gets to the edge of the cliff, it makes a hairpin turn to head inland, but not before you get a nice, wide view of the expansive waters and the nearby Anacapa Island.
The trail heads inland and mostly uphill for about 1.3 miles before the next intersection. There isn't much tall foliage so you'll have a good, wide view of the island as you go.
The next set of signs will indicate the next turn. If you go straight, you'll end up at Smugglers Cove, which I hear is a lovely stone beach. But if you are continuing on with the Scorpion Canyon loop, you'll want to take the right-hand turn.
From there, the path continues to ascend for another 0.3 miles before yet another major junction. This time, the left-hand path would get you to Montanon Ridge or even Prisoners Harbor is you wanted to walk over 11 miles to get there... But to continue the loop, the sharp right-hand turn is the way to go.
Before you head to the right, though, if you look in the opposite direction, you'll see an old building and crane in the distance, remnants of a time when people lived on the island.
Now, heading down that right-hand path, this is where the trail actually starts its descent. Over the course of about 0.8 miles, you'll pretty much lose all of the altitude you gained from the first half of the trail. Which means there are a few steep sections so you may want to take it slow. The risk of slippage is greatly increased here.
This section is where we finally saw our first Island Foxes! The first one was obscured by some tall foliage and it appeared to be slowly sniffing around for food. The second one sauntered out of a bush and onto the trail, and then hung out there for quite a while. Eventually, as we made more movement it headed back into the bush.
Once the trail flattens out, it remains fairly flat for a while and it's basically heading back to the Scorpion Anchorage dock. We had decided to extend our hike to include Cavern Point but if you wanted to end the hike earlier, just follow the path straight back to the dock.
For Cavern Point, the turn off will be at the second campground you pass through. The turn is to the left, just after a bathroom building, and you'll start gaining elevation again. It's only maybe about 0.2 miles before you hit the cliffs at the edge of the island and you'll get a great view of the water.
Once at the cliffs, heading to the right will get you to Cavern Point. You just have to go up one more fairly steep section, but it's pretty short . The lookout point will be to the left of the main path and features some interesting looking volcanic rocks.
Cavern Point is pretty popular because it's not too far from the dock, so there were more people here than there were in any other part of this hike. There is a good chance there will be a few groups of people enjoying the view at the lookout point when you get there.
Once you've finished taking in the view, continue along the main path to get back to the dock. The rest of the way is either flat or descending so it's a relaxing way to end a day of hiking. Plus it follows the cliff side so you'll have more good views of the surrounding waters.
Just be sure to get back to the dock area about 30 minutes before your ticketed departure time, especially if you are on the last boat of the day. You don't want to get stuck on the island!
The ride back to Ventura was nice (although still longer than I wanted it to be) because it was at sunset and the sky looked absolutely gorgeous. The boat may even stop if they see more marine life, although it's less likely in the evening. Either way, you'll be back on the main land in a little over an hour.
Bottom Line: A full day trip including over an hour on a boat each way. The hike itself has a lot to see including cliffside views and island foxes.
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