Hermit Gulch Campground

Backpack camped there for the weekend, camping on the island was a unique experience. Great spot to enjoy nature and not too far from fun activities in Avalon. It’s a nice 30 mins hike from pier to campsite passing through the town and by a beautiful golf course. You can also take the circuit ride there, getting a ride back to downtown Avalon might take a while. The rangers are helpful and friendly, the office closes at 5pm. The office is also a store selling water, canister, cold drinks and common camping needs. Keep a close eye on your food and keep food in the locker if you are away, learnt it the hard way.

Hermit Gulch is a wonderful camping site. It's clean, teeming with life throughout the day from foxes, deer, and several species of birds, the cacophany is constant and beautiful. The park ranger, Patrick, is super helpful and friendly, and the station is always nearby and sells everything you need while you're there. BRING QUARTERS so you can take advantage of the lockers and clean showers they have available!

We had an amazing time at Hermit Gulch campground. The facilities are fantastic- flushing clean toilets, washing sink and tables, grills, picnic tables. Our tent cabins were very clean and roomy with front porch, propane stove and lantern. Outlets to charge phone or e-bike. Regina was so helpful with a little camp store right there for last minute things. She even gave our kids a printed scavenger hunt and honorary ranger pins. This was camping made super easy which is great since you can only take so much on the boat over. And site is so pretty and short walk into town. Just great.

We stayed at Hermit Gulch Campground for two nights, March 23-24 2024. Great weather. The camp hosts were friendly and helpful. The campsite is easy 20 min walk from Avalon. We did a day hike on Trans Catalina trail. Botanic garden was fun as well. Great experience.

It’s a nice place on the mountains; it’s like 30 minutes far from city center on foot. They have cabins or organized spots to build your own tent. clean rest and shower rooms. Special storage lockers for food items , as you can’t keep them out at night unless you want them gone by deers, Squirrels or even foxes lol they won’t hesitate to attack your tent for food!

I had the best time ever visiting the Hermit Gulch campground on Catalina Island. I’d never been to any of the islands there and did not know what to expect. I called ahead and spoke to Regina, the head ranger at Hermit Gulch and she was so kind and took the time to give me a lot of detailed information that made the camping trip work really well. Once I got up to the camp, Regina was really helpful with so many things and even helped me when my stove broke. I felt safe and well looked after up there. I think camping on Catalina is perfect because the town has so many fun and lively things to do and just 1.5 miles up the hill, it is serene and peaceful. I did a nearly 3 month car camping trip from WA state through much of California and was heading home. I probably would not have turned back around from San Luis Obispo if I had not spoken to Regina and gotten my questions answered about how camping on the island worked. I also loved the proximity of the campground to the botanical gardens. I’m definitely coming back and bringing my family. Just a wonderful trip!

Every camp site had a grill and bench/table. The bathrooms were clean and very easy to change in. There were also showers available for a small fee. It is conveniently located near hiking trails, the botanical garden, and a short walk into town. Overall, it was very comfortable and peaceful. People were respectful of quiet time. Adequate trash cans available as well as food storage containers. On one of the nights I was there, we had deer and fox visitors!

Happy it was pretty empty since the sites were tiny and on top of each other. Since it was empty it was a nice pretty quiet campground. The camp host lady was super nice and helpful. We bought the small camp fuel and it was defective.... Got almost nothing out of it. Glad we had a back up in our group since we were doing the whole trans-catalina.... Could have been a bad situation!