Santa Rosa Island

The wind is for real.

Santa Rosa is SO beautiful! It is quiet, peaceful and uncrowded. Walk to Lobo Canyon, East Point, Carrington Point or Skunk Point. They are all beautiful. The beach is gorgeous, with white sand and no people. The wind does get quite strong. The rangers are kind and helpful. The restrooms are clean and a real luxury with flush toilets. Island Packers is so accommodating, always pointing out interesting things and even pulling the boat into Painted Cave.

Beautiful place to visit.

A really awesome time. Highlight was definitely Lobo Canyon. The view from the front of the campground is amazing seeing Santa Cruz through the opening of the canyon, but I think if I ever go again I'd stay in the back just to be further away from the bathroom and foot traffic from the campground entry path.

Campground facilities are great! Decent spacing between sites, clean toilets, not too far to walk for water. Site 15 is beautiful and very private, however there is really only space to pitch one tent.

Amazing Bald Eagle sighting Lobos Canyon hike.

Loved this campground! The sites were clean and flat, the restrooms were clean and well stocked. There can be a lot of wind. Bring as low of profile tent as you can. It will help if the wind is going in the swirls. I also didn't put my rain fly on. Which helped with the noise. It is a bit of a walk from the ferry, so be prepared. I'll be back for sure.

Can’t wait to go back! Campsite and bathrooms were clean and stocked. This is my new favorite place to camp. The 1.3 mi hike to get there was mostly flat and easy with only a small incline at the end. Very close to a beautiful beach. The only slightly negative I have is that the water didn’t taste great. But having potable water right at the campsite that I didn’t have to hike in was a huge bonus. I also appreciated the wind shelter as it helped shield our tents from the wind and we had a dry place to be when it rained.

My second visit to Santa Rosa-what an amazing place. And I went to San Miguel for two days before Santa Rosa-what an incredible contrast between the two islands.

Santa Rosa is a beautiful place well worth the added time and effort to arrive there. The campground is small with clean flush toilets and potable water. Because a limited number of people are there, we hiked for most of every day without seeing anyone. Be prepared for wind and, if you aren't travelling light, bring a folding wagon for the hike from the pier to the campsite. The rangers will often let you throw gear in the bed of their truck and transport it for you, but probably can't count on this.