Santa Rosa Island

Bring a hammock to pitch in the wind shelters!

This was an amazing trip.

Loved that there were very few camping areas so that the island did not seem at all crowded!
The facilities were well taken care of, the bathroom was the cleanest camping bathroom ever!
Hiking information and volunteer ranger conversations were readily available.
We loved it, thank you for making the island available.

A wonderful place and very windy. The shelters at Water Canyon are welcome and work partially to shelter your tent from the wind. Great water and flush toilet with sink in the camp, very welcome and make it in easy place to stay. It is also a quick and relatively flat walk from the pier. We saw 100's of leopard sharks in the shallows on the beach near the pier from above, an amazing sight.

I had an amazing time on Santa Rosa Island! This was my first real solo "backpacking" trip, and I could not have imagined a better place to be. I would recommend the Torrey Pines trail and especially the Lobo Canyon trail (challenging but well worth the effort). There is a gorgeous white sand beach about 10 minutes from the campground. The island is beautiful, rugged, raw, and captivating! I saw 5 foxes in 2 days, and each encounter was a real treat. Have no fear -- the foxes are totally not aggressive at all. It is VERY windy on the island, but the wind structures at the campground do help block the wind and provide some shade. I wish i had brought a thin wind breaker with a hood. Also, the structure has nails and wires attached, which make it great to hang and organize camp items, like the packs. There is also a fox box, which is quite large and definitely helps with camp storage and organization. There is a restroom facility which has actually very nice furnishings. There was a sink for washing dishes, but a ranger took that out of service. Very importantly, there is drinking water access at the campground. The other campers were very friendly, hospitable, and easy-going, no issues at all when I went solo. I hope i can go there again and spend more time there!!!

The 4-days stay on Santa Rosa was the most amazing camping experience I have ever made. The island is much larger than I initially imagined it to be, and the different hiking trails (e.g. Lobo Canyon, Carrington Point and Skunk Point/East Point) offer completely different landscapes with their own unique ecosystems. It makes it feel like you hop to a completely new island. Also, due to the limited amount of camping spots, these hikes are experienced as if you were practically alone on the whole island. This gives such a feeling of serenity.

The ranger & the staff did an excellent job. We'll be back next year!

Everything was fantastic! The park ranger was friendly and very informative! We will definitely be back!

The experience of getting to and staying on Santa Rosa for a couple nights was amazing. We visited Santa Rosa at the end of May. The ferry wasn’t too crowded. The amount of marine life we saw on our way to the island was incredible, I would highly recommend making the extra effort to travel to Santa Rosa for this. The weather on the island was foggy in the morning but it burns off midday and could get pretty warm as there is not much shade, so come prepared with sunscreen and a cover up. The campsite was perfect for our needs and the facilities were very well kept (kudos to everyone for keeping them clean). The trail maps they give you and the signage could use some improvement as they’re not the easiest to follow but it added to our adventure. We highly recommend visiting Santa Rosa and we had a great time!

We had an amazing trip-
-the campground feels remote but easily accessible and comfortable with the shelters, running water and flush toilets!
-wonderful hiking in every direction- we hiked about 60 mi in 3 days
- the plants, wildlife and history are truly unique