Location – Potato Harbor, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Distance – 5 mile round trip
Terrain Type – Slight ascend at the beginning of the hike to the top of the sea cliff and then the hike levels out
Difficulty – Easy
Best Time – Spring with the wild flowers makes this a magificient hike but the trail is accessible year-round
Duration– 2 hours at a leisure pace
View of the harbor from the top of the sea cliff
By the time we set up camp and ate lunch on the first day, there wasn’t too much sunlight left to do a long hike. We decided to tackle the 5-mile roundtrip hike to Potato Harbor as our first hike on the island. The initial ascend to the top of the sea caves gave us a good cardio workout but the beautiful views of the island made it totally worth it!
From the visitor center, the trail ascends to Cavern’s point. The recent rain gave the island a facelift, the hills are a bright shade of green and the wild flowers are in full bloom.
Once we reached the top of the sea cliffs, the hike leveled out and we are met with amazing views of the sea caves from above.
Potato Harbor
Be extra careful where you step on top of the cliffs, the rocks are sandstone and they are known to be lose and erode into the ocean.
Even though this was a short and easy hike, the beautiful views along the coast makes up for the lack of distance. It is definitely a must see if you come to Santa Cruz island.
Hike Now, Work Later 