Intro
The Trans-Catalina Trail (TCT) is a 38.5 mile hiking trail on Santa Catalina Island, about 25 miles off the coast of LA in Southern California. The trail traverses the island from Avalon to Two Harbors and has several campgrounds along the route.
In January 2019, I was in Seattle as a cold winter was setting in and was craving some sunshine, warmth, and an active outdoor adventure when I came across the TCT. It sounded like a perfect short backpacking adventure to kick off 2019!
This post includes a daily recap, photos, some closing thoughts, and links to a few resources I found helpful in planning the hike.
Total distance: 40.3 miles. Total elevation gain: 8239 ft
Daily Recap
Day 0: Sunday, January 20, 2019
Overnight: Holiday Inn AvalonMy friend Dave and I flew into LAX, took an Uber to Long Beach, and caught the 4:30pm Catalina Express ferry to the town of Avalon on Catalina Island. After dinner at an expensive touristy Mexican restaurant, we checked into the Holiday Inn. There was a lunar eclipse tonight, which was cool to see.
Day 1: Monday, January 21, 2019
Distance: 11.1 miles
Elevation gain: 2948 feet
Overnight: Black Jack campgroundWe bought canister fuel from Chet’s Hardware and visited the Catalina Island Conservancy office (fuel was also available here). After coffee and donuts at a bakery, we started hiking with sunny skies and amazing views. The trail was up and down all day (starting with a big climb to 1500 ft) and setup camp at Black Jack campground. We saw no other hikers while hiking all day, but a few turned up in the evening.
Day 2: Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Distance: 8.7 miles
Elevation gain: 928 feet
Overnight: Little Harbor campgroundA warm and sunny day! Stopped for 2nd breakfast at the Airport in the Sky restaurant, 2 miles from Black Jack campground. Saw a Catalina fox on the trail. Hiked to Little Harbor campground and setup camp near the beach and saw a beautiful sunset over the ocean. There were a few bison roaming near the camp.
Day 3: Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Distance: 6.0 miles
Elevation gain: 1567 feet
Overnight: Two Harbors campgroundA short hiking day with a decent climb and descent into Two Harbors. The motivation today was provided by an awaiting cheeseburger in Two Harbors.
Picked up a key for water & firewood cached at Parsons Landing campground for the following day, and setup camp at Two Harbors campground.
Day 4: Thursday, January 24, 2019
Distance: 7.2 miles
Elevation gain: 1962 feet
Overnight: Parsons Landing campgroundToday consisted of a super steep climb to the highest point on the trail, which had 360 degree views of the island. The descent was even steeper and led down to Parsons Landing, a remote primitive campground on the beach where water and firewood was cached for campers. This was my favorite campsite for this trip. Successfully started a camp fire.
Day 5: Friday, January 25, 2019
Distance: 7.7 miles
Elevation gain: 755 feetFinal day on the TCT with an easy walk back to Two Harbors, where an awesome breakfast burrito was waiting. Took a shower at the public showers, caught the 11:30am ferry to San Pedro, and then an Uber to LA to visit my cousins. The next day I flew back to Seattle.
The TCT was a perfect mini-adventure for January: 5 days of solid hiking, relaxing camping, abundant sunshine, constant views, and even some wildlife. A perfect start to 2019!
Closing Thoughts
The TCT was a perfect winter backpacking trip. The weather was perfect: warm and sunny every day. There were very few people on the island (hikers and other visitors). Getting campground reservations (required for the TCT) at the last minute was super easy (much different situation rest of the year).
We did the hike over 5 days but is totally doable in 3-4 days. My favorite campgrounds were Little Harbor and Parsons Landing, though Black Jack and Two Harbor campgrounds were also nice. I wanted to stay at all 4 of the campgrounds, so ended up planning the trip over 5 days, making for some short hiking days. I didn’t mind that, as it was winter, the days were also relatively short, and we were never rushed to make it to camp before dark.
This is not a wilderness hike. You are always fairly close to roads and services (and cheeseburgers). There are multiple opportunities to eat and shop, so you don’t need to carry a lot of food. Also, you can only stay at the developed campgrounds (no wild camping permitted), where there is water and toilets (and an outdoor cold shower if you’re inclined).
The campgrounds are fairly expensive ($20-$25 per person per night). If you include roundtrip on the ferry (~$75 round trip), parking at the ferry terminal if you drove a car there, and cost of flights if you flew to Southern California, the total cost can be high for a ~5 day backpacking trip. Even with the total cost, I found the trip to be worthwhile for a winter backpacking trip and would consider doing it again, especially for training and gear shakedown for a bigger backpacking trip in the spring/summer.
I found out after my hike that Conservancy members receive a 50% discount at Little Harbor, Parsons Landing and Blackjack campgrounds. So if you are booking for more than one person, it could be cheaper to join the Conservancy ($35) and get 50% off campground reservations.
Resources
Here are a few resources I found helpful while planning for the TCT.
Catalina Island Conservancy – Trans-Catalina Trail – 50% discount on campground reservations with membership
Two Harbors Visitor Services – Easiest way to book all campground reservations is to call directly (310) 510-4205
TCT Hiking map (pdf) – can also purchase paper map at the Conservancy in Avalon
Catalina Express Ferry Schedule
She Dreams of Alpine Blog – useful information and GPX/KML files