California’s national park escapes are renowned worldwide, but one of the most spectacular is still crowd-free. In 2025, Channel Islands National Park recorded just 227,186 recreational visits, compared with Yosemite’s 4,278,413.
Now, there’s a new reason to sail across the Santa Barbara Channel to the state’s least-visited national park. The National Park Service has officially finished construction and opened reservations for the brand-new Prisoners Harbor Campground on Santa Cruz Island, which is set to open for overnight stays on August 27, 2026.
At just $15 per site, per night, the tiny campground offers an inexpensive base for experiencing the park’s rugged coastline, dramatic sea views, and remote hiking terrain.
A new way to stay on Santa Cruz Island
Prisoners Harbor Campground is a small facility featuring six campsites that can accommodate up to four people.
Until now, campers in this part of Santa Cruz Island typically used the remote Del Norte Campground, a backcountry site requiring a strenuous 3.5-mile hike from the pier, or the Scorpion Campground, a larger and more developed campground popular among families and first-time campers.
The new Prisoners Harbor campground bridges the two experiences, offering the seclusion of a backcountry stay while still conveniently located near the Prisoners Harbor pier.
This is Santa Cruz Island’s first new campground in decades, offering new opportunities for visitors while continuing to protect the island’s ecosystem. Thanks to the new site, visitors can now plan multi-day stays by hiking and kayaking between Scorpion Anchorage and Prisoners Harbor.
“For our park rangers, Prisoners Harbor Campground is one of those rare opportunities to create a new inspirational experience that will be here for generations to come,” said Ethan McKinley, Channel Islands National Park Superintendent, in a press release. “It’s a small, thoughtfully designed campground that’s in tune with nature. Visitors will fall asleep listening to the gentle rhythm of cobblestones rolling in the surf.”
Camping at Prisoners Harbor
The new campground is about a quarter-mile from the Prisoners Harbor Pier on Santa Cruz Island. Visitors can book the Island Packers 90-minute boat service from Ventura Harbor to Prisoners Harbor, which is separate from the campground booking.
While the new site is closer to the pier, it’s still a primitive island camping experience. Visitors must bring their own supplies, provisions, and water, and campfires and smoking are prohibited.
Reservations are available beginning today, August 18, and the campground officially opens on August 27, 2026.
