Santa Cruz Island Scorpion
5Heads up5 fires, nearest 34 mi
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:02 UTC
- A night
- $15From, per site
- Sites
- 31All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 18 notices
In the agency’s own words
Fantastic ocean views and relaxing beach time is practically guaranteed at Scorpion Canyon Campground, the most family-friendly campsite on Santa Cruz Island. Set on the eastern part of the island, the campground is a short hike from the pier and is sheltered from harsh ocean winds. 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. Keep reading
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. For more information about Santa Cruz Island visit: https://www.nps.gov/chis/planyourvisit/santa-cruz-island.htm .
Recreation
With its easy beach access and generally good weather, this area offers the most recreational activities in the park, including 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
Primitive camping is available at Scorpion Canyon Campground with 25 individual sites which accommodate up to six persons per site; and six group sites with up to 15 persons per site. Picnic table, food storage box, pit toilet, and water are provided. The campground is a flat 1/2 mile to 1 mile hike from the pier. Access to the island is by Island Packers Cruises or by private boat.
Natural Features
The beach near the campground is a mix of sand and rocks, and faces the Santa Barbara Channel. The campground is located in a valley with a mixture of trees and shrubs. Rugged mountain peaks rise above the campground to 1,808 feet.
Nearby Attractions
Hiking options are unlimited and offer spectacular coastal views. Try the 2 mile round-trip Cavern Point Loop hike for views of the island's mountain peaks, and the southern California coastline. This popular hike takes you past antique ranching equipment and historic buildings for a taste of island ranch history. For more advanced hikers, tackle the 7.5-mile round-trip hike from the campground to Smugglers Cove.
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.
Camping reservations are required prior to arriving on the island. There are NO walk-ups at this facility.
There are 25 individual campsites. Max 6 people per site. Max 3 tents per site. A party or group of 12 or less may reserve a maximum of 2 individual sites per visit.
Everything else this campground posts · 15
A party or group of 13 or more are not allowed in individual sites and must use the group sites (A-F) in the upper campground.
There are 6 group sites. Minimum 13 people per site. Max 15 people per site. No more than 3 group sites per party or group.
A party or group of 46 or more may not reserve any sites through recreation.gov and must contact the park to obtain a special use permit: https://www.nps.gov/chis/learn/management/special-use-permits.htm.
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.
1/2 mile to 1 mile hike to campground. Visitors must carry all their own gear.
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 drinking water provided. No stores or services.
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.
Visitors who have known allergies to yellow jacket venom should consider going to an alternate location other than Scorpion Ranch campground during the summer and early fall. Since yellow jackets are attracted to the water at the Scorpion Ranch campground water spigots, visitors that are allergic to yellow jacket stings may want to consider bringing their own water to the island.
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
- 31 · 31 tent-only, 6 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Campfires
- Not allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 31 of 31 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 31 of 31 campsite records, WATER SPIGOT on 31 of 31 campsite records
Around the campground
- On the water
- Beach, Coast
- Beachcombing
- Birding
- Boating
- Evening Programs
- Fishing
- Guided Interpretive Walks
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Information Site
- Ranger programs
- Picnicking
- Sailing
- Scuba Diving
- Sea Kayaking
3 of 62 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:02 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
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 · 14
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 16:02 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
31 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 31 mapped sitesAll 31 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 31 of the 31 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. 31 of the 31 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Lower Loop | 001 | tent only nonelectric | 50 ft | 2.7 mi | 151 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 002 | tent only nonelectric | 56 ft | 2.7 mi | 180 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 003 | tent only nonelectric | 31 ft | 2.7 mi | 194 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 004 | tent only nonelectric | 31 ft | 2.7 mi | 181 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 005 | tent only nonelectric | 50 ft | 2.7 mi | 242 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 006 | tent only nonelectric | 59 ft | 2.8 mi | 237 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 007 | tent only nonelectric | 50 ft | 2.8 mi | 283 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 008 | tent only nonelectric | 62 ft | 2.8 mi | 312 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 009 | tent only nonelectric | 73 ft | 2.8 mi | 378 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 010 | tent only nonelectric | 71 ft | 2.8 mi | 389 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 011 | tent only nonelectric | 107 ft | 2.8 mi | 370 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 012 | tent only nonelectric | 55 ft | 2.8 mi | 374 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 013 | tent only nonelectric | 55 ft | 2.8 mi | 362 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 014 | tent only nonelectric | 95 ft | 2.8 mi | 265 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 015 | tent only nonelectric | 53 ft | 2.8 mi | 310 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 016 | tent only nonelectric | 50 ft | 2.8 mi | 282 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 017 | tent only nonelectric | 50 ft | 2.8 mi | 251 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 018 | tent only nonelectric | 58 ft | 2.8 mi | 220 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 019 | tent only nonelectric | 74 ft | 2.8 mi | 167 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 020 | tent only nonelectric | 66 ft | 2.8 mi | 153 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 021 | tent only nonelectric | 54 ft | 2.8 mi | 98 ft | $15 |
| Lower Loop | 022 | tent only nonelectric | 54 ft | 2.8 mi | 68 ft | $15 |
| Upper Loop | 023 | tent only nonelectric | 101 ft | 2.7 mi | 261 ft | $15 |
| Upper Loop | 024 | tent only nonelectric | 62 ft | 2.7 mi | 261 ft | $15 |
| Upper Loop | 025 | tent only nonelectric | 62 ft | 2.8 mi | 293 ft | $15 |
| Upper Loop | A | group tent only area nonelectric | 52 ft | 2.7 mi | 177 ft | $40 |
| Upper Loop | B | group tent only area nonelectric | 91 ft | 2.8 mi | 148 ft | $40 |
| Upper Loop | C | group tent only area nonelectric | 52 ft | 2.8 mi | 213 ft | $40 |
| Upper Loop | D | group tent only area nonelectric | 122 ft | 2.7 mi | 86 ft | $40 |
| Upper Loop | E | group tent only area nonelectric | 113 ft | 2.7 mi | 180 ft | $40 |
| Upper Loop | F | group tent only area nonelectric | 122 ft | 2.8 mi | 204 ft | $40 |
25 of 31 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Scorpion Canyon CampgroundChannel Islands National Park · 0.0 mi
Santa Cruz Island Del Norte BackcountryChannel Islands National Park · 6.2 miPrisoners Harbor CampgroundChannel Islands National Park · 7.2 mi
Santa Cruz Island Prisoners HarborChannel Islands National Park · 7.2 mi
Anacapa IslandChannel Islands National Park · 11 mi
Water Canyon CampgroundChannel Islands National Park · 28 miBoat transportation can be arranged with Island Packers from Ventura Harbor.
To park headquarters in Ventura, Ca: exit Highway 101, at 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 55°F, day 74°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 Scorpion 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 →