Santa Cruz Island Del Norte Backcountry
4Heads up2 park alerts · 2 fires, nearest 40 mi
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $15From, per site
- Sites
- 94 on recreation.gov
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 16 notices
In the agency’s own words
For a truly remote getaway full of backpacking and breathtaking scenery, take a backcountry trip to Santa Cruz Island's Del Norte Campground. Del Norte is currently the only backcountry campground on Santa Cruz Island. The National Park Service opened this backcountry site in recognition of its rare wilderness values. As you explore these wild areas, please take the responsibility to help us protect and preserve these delicate natural resources for future generations. While backcountry camping is an incredible experience, it is not for the inexperienced backpacker. Keep reading
Due to difficult weather, rugged terrain, and off-trail hiking, backcountry camping is an arduous endeavor and should be undertaken only by experienced, well-conditioned backpackers. To reach this backcountry site, visitors will backpack along a historic ranch road/trail through a series of canyons and ridges, to a vista about 700 feet above sea level. This moderate to strenuous 3.5-mile hike from Prisoners Harbor travels through island oak woodlands and coastal sage scrub plant communities.
Recreation
From Prisoners Harbor, the shortest route to the Del Norte Campground is 3.5 miles via the Del Norte Trail. Follow the Navy Road out of Prisoners Harbor for 1.5 miles (600-foot elevation gain; strenuous). This gravel road is still used daily by vehicles, so please use caution while hiking along it. During winter and spring, visitors need to be prepared for a wet creek crossing at Canada del Puerto in Prisoner's Harbor. At the signed turn-off for Del Norte Trail, leave the gravel road and continue east (left) along the trail for 1.8 miles. The trail winds up and down two canyons (Cañada del Agua and Cañada del Muro)) to the signed junction with the Del Norte Road that leads .2 miles to the campground. The longer route (5 miles), which provides views of the south side of the island, follows the Navy Road as it climbs 1,200 feet over 4 miles and eventually reaches the junction with the Del Norte Road. At the signed junction, turn north (left) and descend 1 mile to the campground. From Scorpion Anchorage, Del Norte Campground is approximately 12 miles via the Navy Road. Beach access is at Prisoners Harbor. There is no access to the beach at Del Norte Campground. Recreational activities on Santa Cruz Island include hiking, swimming, snorkeling, diving, kayaking and wildlife/wildflower viewing. There are no services on the island, so all gear has to be brought to the island. Guided kayak trips and kayak rentals must be arranged before arriving on the island. For more information about recreational activities in the park, visit https://www.nps.gov/chis/planyourvisit/index.htm .
Facilities
The Del Norte Campground has four primitive campsites (four persons per site) and users must camp within these designated sites. A picnic table and pit-style toilet are provided (campers must bring their own toilet paper). Visitors are encouraged to pack as light as possible (backpacking style) as they will need to carry all of their gear, food and water to the campsite. Water is not available. Access to the island is by Island Packers Cruises or by private boat.
Natural Features
Del Norte is nestled in a shaded oak grove and provides scenic views of the island's pristine coastline. The largest of California's Channel Islands, Santa Cruz Island is one of the five islands that make up the Channel Islands National Park. The island is rich in cultural history, magnificent landscapes, and unique flora and fauna. Native American Indians inhabited the island for over 10,000 years and Europeans explored and ranched on the island for over 150 years. Over 600 plant species, 140 land birds, 11 land mammals and a handful of amphibians and reptiles call the island their home. The island fox and island scrub-jay are exciting finds, as they're unique to the island, found nowhere else in the world.
What the agency tells you
Santa Cruz Island may only be reached by boat. Visitors are required to arrange boat transportation to the island before reserving a campsite. Contact the park's authorized concessioner Island Packers or use your own private boat.
During winter and spring, Del Norte campground campers will need to be prepared for a wet creek crossing at Canada del Puerto in Prisoner's Harbor. Visitors may have to wade through fast moving water up to 2 feet deep.
Camping reservations are required prior to arriving on the island. There are NO walk-ups at this facility.
Everything else this campground posts · 13
One party or group may reserve a maximum of 2 individual sites per visit. There are 4 individual campsites. Max 4 people per site.
This is a backcountry campground that requires a 3.5-mile moderate to strenuous hike. You must carry all your gear, including water. Due to difficult weather and rugged terrain, backcountry camping is an arduous endeavor and should be undertaken only by experience, well-conditioned backpackers.
Upon arrival, meet ranger at beach, landing dock or campground. However, park staff is not always available on the island. Please have confirmation letter, receipt, or campsite number with you.
Primitive camping. Tent camping only, no electricity/water/sewer site hook-ups at this campground. Bring low profile tents and extra food for weather delays. Partial shade from trees. Picnic table, food storage box, and pit toilet (bring your own toilet paper) provided. No stores or services. Must bring your own water. One gallon of water per person per day is recommended.
Quiet time is enforced at 10:00 pm. Check-in and check-out times are at 11:00 a.m.
Proper food and trash storage is required. Food/Trash storage lockers are provided at each site. Recommend hard-sided container (i.e. action packer) to further protect food/garbage from animals.
Visitors are required to pack out what they pack in, including garbage.
No campfires or charcoal fires. Only enclosed gas camp stoves are allowed.
Smoking is only allowed on beach areas at Scorpion, Smugglers, and Prisoners Harbors.
Avoid contact with deer mice. Hantavirus has been found in island deer mice. For more information visit: https://www.nps.gov/chis/planyourvisit/hantavirus.htm.
To help prevent the introduction of nonnative species the following items may not be brought to the park: pets; live or potted plants; soil; cut flowers; firewood or any untreated, unfinished wood (including hiking sticks); corrugated boxes; tools or equipment with attached soil; motorized vehicles; bicycles; and single-use plastic grocery bags. Prior to departure, visitors are required to use pest-proof packing materials, inspect and clean their gear and shoes of all soil, seeds, and insects. Learn more about biosecurity and watch the required video at Protect Your Park Through Biosecurity.
No fishing in marine reserves. California fishing license and ocean enhancement sticker required to fish outside marine reserves.
Kayakers: ocean conditions can rapidly change, requiring expert abilities. Ocean kayaking is an inherently dangerous activity. Always check weather and do not kayak beyond your experience level.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 9 · 8 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Campfires
- Not allowed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets - year round
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
Around the campground
- On the water
- Creek, Beach
- Backpacking
- Birding
- Hiking
- Wilderness access
- Wildlife viewing
2 of 4 sites open on Sat, Oct 17read 14:46 UTC
recreation.gov lists 4 of the 9 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
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We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $15 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 14:46 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
9 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 4 mapped sitesAll 9 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 4 of the 9 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 8 of the 9 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| BACKCOUNTRY AREA | 001 | tent only nonelectric | 64 ft | 6.4 mi | 270 ft | $15 |
| BACKCOUNTRY AREA | 001 old | tent only nonelectric | $15 | |||
| BACKCOUNTRY AREA | 002 | tent only nonelectric | 58 ft | 6.4 mi | 234 ft | $15 |
| BACKCOUNTRY AREA | 002 old | tent only nonelectric | $15 | |||
| BACKCOUNTRY AREA | 003 | tent only nonelectric | 58 ft | 6.4 mi | 177 ft | $15 |
| BACKCOUNTRY AREA | 003 old | tent only nonelectric | $15 | |||
| BACKCOUNTRY AREA | 004 | tent only nonelectric | 83 ft | 6.4 mi | 94 ft | $15 |
| BACKCOUNTRY AREA | 004 old | tent only nonelectric | $15 | |||
| SANTA CRUZ DEL NORTE BACKCOUNTRY | TENT NONELECT | type not stated |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Santa Cruz Island Prisoners HarborChannel Islands National Park · 1.3 mi
Santa Cruz Island ScorpionChannel Islands National Park · 6.2 mi
Scorpion Canyon CampgroundChannel Islands National Park · 6.2 mi
Anacapa IslandChannel Islands National Park · 17 mi
Water Canyon CampgroundChannel Islands National Park · 22 miBoat transportation can be arranged with Island Packers from Ventura Harbor.
To park headquarters in Ventura, California: Highway 101, exit Victoria or Seaward to Ventura Harbor.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Oxnard, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 56°F, day 76°F.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Santa Cruz Island Del Norte Backcountry is in California’s 24th congressional district. Its representative, Salud Carbajal (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →