This Skunk Doesn't Stink

Hiking to Skunk Point on Santa Rosa Island in Channel Islands National Park Southern California

On Santa Rosa Island, an all-day hiking expedition to Skunk Point unfolds like chapters of a geographic fairy tale. You’ll cross several distinct terrains on a 11-mile lollipop loop tracing the coastal crescent of Bechers Bay—from grasslands and pine woodland to coastal marsh and shipwreck-strewn beaches. Starting at the campground, head east on Coastal Road through erosive grassland and its ecotone with a hillside grove of ultra-rare Torrey pines. Your eyes will be drawn to Bechers Bay, whose white beaches and turquoise shallows could double as the Caribbean on sunny days. Just as the dirt roadway starts to wear on you, a left fork leads to a coast-hugging singletrack that merges onto a sandy beach littered with shipwreck and backed by alien, wind-whipped dunes and a marine terrace.

On the far side, you’ll come across the remains of the Jane L. Stanford, the largest wooden ship to wreck in the Channel Islands. A rocky headland rises beyond, with bizarre jutting rocks (one shaped like a human head) and tide pools harboring an eye-popping array of marine life: periwinkles, crabs and jumbo-sized sea anemones. Then the grand finale: the sprawling white sand and prolific back dunes of Skunk Point. Some days, you’ll be alone here for miles in every direction. Coveted by select surfers, the point sees large swells with powerful offshore winds spraying foam high in the air. The dunes are a seasonal breeding ground for the snowy plover, a threatened shorebird. You can continue along the beach all the way to East Point or bail out early, cutting inland near Abalone Rocks Marsh, a large wetland, to rejoin Coastal Road and head northwest back to camp.

TIP: Be sure to hike to Skunk Point only on moderate to lightly windy days. Strong winds will kick up stinging sand.

CAMP: The island has only one established campground, located 1.5 miles south of the pier, and situated in Water Canyon, just a few hundred yards inland from the beaches of Bechers Bay. The camp has 15 sites—each with a wooden wind shelter, picnic table, and food storage locker (owing to the thievish island fox)—plus an impressive solar-powered outhouse with warm water and an outdoor sink basin. $15 per night. Reserve a site.

Book boat passage to Santa Rosa through Island Packers, the park's only concessionaire, which will ferry passengers to the island two or three days a week until November 20. Schedule and fares on their site. No dogs.

Trending Stories NorCal

View all Stories
  1. Serene Las Gallinas

    A serene stroll alongside marshland, passing ponds and grasses frilled in seasonal wildflowers, with Mount Tam a beacon in the background … how nice. As part of the esteemed Bay Trail, San Rafael’s Las Gallinas Valley Birding Loop and Wildlife Ponds comprises about 3.5 miles of wide-open trail.

    View
  2. Paint Brushy

    This time of year you’ll have good reason to head for the hills—the electric-green rolling hills of Brushy Peak Regional Preserve in Livermore. This 4.5-mile loop hike is like stepping into a plein air painting.

    View
  3. Sponsored

    2025 POST Wildflower Walks

    Get flower empowered! POST’s complimentary 2025 Wildflower Walks guide blooms with the best places to see a variety of florals across the Peninsula and South Bay this spring.

    View
  4. All right, Almaden!

    Take a trip through time on this 5-mile loop in Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Explore the ruins of an old cinnabar mine and enjoy the first hints of wildflower season.

    View

Trending Stories SoCal

View all Stories
  1. Sponsored

    Weekend in Reno Tahoe

    Weekend plans? Reno Tahoe! Just a few hours by car or a short flight away, Reno Tahoe springs to the moment with great ways to combine adventure and relaxation in its beautiful mountains-meets-desert setting.

    View
  2. Hiker walking along the North Bluff Trail on Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park

    Purely Wild

    Channel Islands National Park lives up to its nickname as “North America’s Galapagos.” This less-traveled national park is an undeveloped and isolated series of five dramatic and distinct islands reached by boat. Hike the largest of the islands, Santa Cruz.

    View
  3. Woman hiking the South Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon

    Truly Grand Day Hike

    One of the best spring day hikes in the Grand Canyon? See layer upon layer of the park’s grandeur—including the river—on this 3-mile (one-way) journey to Skeleton Point via the South Kaibab Trail.

    View
  4. A woman stands amid an array of yellow and purple flowers at Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles

    Petal Paradise

    Tulips, lilacs, and daffodils—flower power is in full bloom at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge. Sprawling across 150 acres surrounded by mountains, the gardens are putting on their best show right now.

    View