Backpacking on Santa Cruz Island on Jan. 14-16

If you haven’t ever been to this amazing National Park, it is truly a great one. There are lots of great spots on the island for hikes and with the recent rains the wildflowers may be out already. Our Scoutmaster is also contacting a friend of his, who is a docent on Santa Cruz, and he may be able to lead a hike for the Troop as well.

We have booked a group camping spot A (max 15 campers) in the Santa Cruz Scorpion Campground. The site is located in the upper lot and less than a mile from the ferry dock. Although this is a completely hike-in site, it isn’t strenuous. Thus, this is a great introduction to backpacking. There are also bathrooms and potable water in the campground. Two great additions for any backpacking trip!

We have called Island Packers and there is room for at least 15 on the 10 am boat out of Ventura on Sat Jan 14. Arrival time to the dock is at least one hour prior to departure. The return ferry currently could either be 3:30 or 4pm on Monday the 16th of Jan. Group rates for the boat start at 14 people; $79 for adults rt and $61 for children 12 and under rt. If we don’t have a group of 14, prices are roughly $5 dollars more. The camp site is $40 each night, for a total of $80 and Joe and I don’t mind covering that. Thus, the ferry cost is the only mandatory fee. There are options for kayaking which would have to be arranged separately. Scouts and family members would need to bring all their own food (each site has fox boxes, no bears on the island- yay!) and camping gear. Nights will still be cold, so campers would need the be prepared for cooler weather especially as there are no fires allowed on Santa Cruz Island (although camp stoves are allowed).

Since the ferry can fill up, time is of the essence. Please let us know if you are interested in joining ASAP. There is a limit of 15 people for the site and 3 slots of those are already filled by our family. There are currently no other sites available on the island for both nights, so unless someone else cancels, we won’t be able to take more than 15