California · National Park trail

Scorpion Canyon Loop Hike

in California · centroid 25 mi from Oxnard

A scenic loop hike to the interior with a chance to see the unique island scrub-jay. To avoid a steep climb, hike clockwise starting on the Smugglers Road towards the oil well and eventually down into Scorpion Canyon and back out to the beach. Hike off trail into the right (or northwest) fork of Scorpion Canyon to see the island scrub-jay, but be prepared for extremely rocky conditions.

Distance: 4.5 miles (round trip from Scorpion Beach) Difficulty: Moderate to strenuous

Trail type
National Park trail
Centroid nearest city
Oxnard, CA · 25 mi · ~45 min drive
Centroid coords
34.0411°, -119.5742°

About Channel Islands National Park

National Park

This trail is inside Channel Islands National Park, a national park managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.

Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/scorpion-canyon-loop-hike.htm

Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/chis/index.htm

Plan your hike

Practical notes

Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.

Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.

When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.

If you've hiked Scorpion Canyon Loop Hike and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.

Stay nearby

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Driving in? The nearest documented metro is Oxnard, CA — 25 miles away (~45 min drive). See accommodation in Oxnard on Booking.com → RoamFound earns a small commission if you book through this link, at no extra cost to you. How we handle affiliate links.

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Sources

Public data + curation

Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.