Two Harbors Campground

Two Harbors Campground

Catalina Island, Ca.

October 20, 2012

We decided to go to Two Harbors camping for my birthday because, why not, it's Catalina Island, and secondly because you get a free boat ride over and back. We have been to Avalon but never to Two Harbors and now that we have been here, Never again to Avalon! I LOVE TWO HARBORS! I did a lot of googling for this place, and really didn't come up with much with the exception of a few photos and whatever their website had to say, which wasn't very helpful, in all reality. 

Here is what you NEED to do to camp at Two Harbors.

1. Check their website (HERE) as well as The Catalina Express (HERE) website simultaneously to make sure both are available. Reserve now.
2.  Pack what you can, each passenger is allowed 2 pieces of luggage, no larger than 37x23x23 and weighing no more than 50 pounds each, to be stowed in the luggage compartment. You also get a carry-on, however the time of year we went, we could have brought LOTS more. We had a wheeled cooler (loaded our beer directly from a cold fridge and our food in a small insulated bag with small ice packs, so no ice weight, we bought it there), a large tupperware container, two large backpacks and two carry-on day packs. I strapped the tupperware to the cooler which they rolled onto the rear deck of the boat. They put the backpacks down below, very easy.
3. When you get there, roll your cooler off of the boat and wait for them to bring up your backpacks (or whatever you brought). Walk to the head of the pier to the visitor center and wait in line if there is one. They will check you in, give you your camping/hiking permit and send you to the truck just to the right of the bldg. as you face the pier. Leave your luggage by the truck, but DON'T load it yourself, one guy got an ass chewin' by the driver. They will take your luggage to the camp and drop it very near your site. If you reserved wood, charcoal, tents or anything else, they will bring these later. I asked him if I had time to get ice for the cooler before he left, so I ran to the store, bought the ice and charcoal, returned to the truck and loaded it up before he left which save us having to carry it.
4. Go to the Bar/Restaurant and have a drink and/or something to eat. Despite the descent reviews, the daytime "restaurant" ain't that great, in my opinion, but I have had worse. Next we bought any remaining items from the store and walked to the trail to the camp.

The Campground:

  The real only downfall of this place would be the porta-pottis, but in my job I have to use these daily. Let me say that despite all the reviews that state how bad these are, they are the cleanest of these types that I have used. Granted no one likes to use them, but I was impressed.

    Each campsite has a table, sunshade, raised charcoal grill and a fire pit. The sunshade doesn't completely shade you, but the few sites that were missing them looked lacking. It did get a little misty here our first night and the table got a little wet, so the next night I attached a tarp under the sunshade with some cord which at least kept the table dry from falling rain, if you can rig it up, see picture below. I can't say which sites are the best only staying here once, but I can say that all sites rule and only a couple lack a view. Some reviews say that the tent cabins are anything but desirable, but I would stay in them anytime if they were cheaper. They were clean as far as a tent can be, these would be advantageous especially when the weather gets worse, however I think that they don't rent them during the winter.  

   Like any other campground, this one empties out on Sunday morning at 11 AM, and at $9 a tiny bundle, firewood is at a premium! One quick walk around this place we picked up about 4 bundles worth of new wood and several logs that were started the night before and quickly put out. Lots of free wood for our Sunday night AND a $2 fire-starter. 

The Wildlife:

Beware of these GIANT ravens!! You can actually hear the wind that their huge wings make all night long, "FOO, FOO, FOO", an unforgettable sound. When we came back from our hike that day the fire-starter was gone! After further investigation, I found that something had removed the wrapper and started to eat the mini-duraflame, had to be a crow. WATCH YOUR FOOD! These monsters are FAST, HUGE and RELENTLESS! All day AND night we saw deer running wild, you could actually throw a rock and have LOADS of venison jerky! Our last night we heard a bizarre squeaky sound, turned out to be a baby deer calling for the mama, such a sad sound. Apparently there is a real problem with raccoons, they shouldn't be here! There are loads of posters with a hotline number if you see one (I wonder if they actually return your calls on this VoiceMail??)

My Suggestions of what to bring:

1. A tablecloth and cord to tie it down.
2. A tarp and cord to weatherproof your sunshade
3. Camp chairs.
4. Your own TP!
5. Ice chest.
6. Cell phone charging apparatus.

Pros:

• Great views from most campsites
• Ease of travel and luggage transfer
• Clean, spacious and awesome sites!
• Water spigots every few sites
• Great wildlife sightings

Cons:

• No flushing toilets
• Loud partiers at night
• Expensive supplies

5 Star AT&T 3G Coverage Everywhere! (Almost)

	Spot 29 [Map]		Dinner! [Map]
	Bathrooms near spot 29 [Map]		Deer [Map]
	Ranger view [Map]		"Comfort" Station [Map]
	From the top of the campground [Map]		On the upper road [Map]
	The sign [Map]		Ranger station [Map]
	Shower [Map]		The trail above, higher and steeper than it looks [Map]
	At the bottom [Map]		Front 3 spots [Map]
	Sink, shower and toilets at the bottom [Map]		30, 31, 32 & 33 [Map]
	Tarp [Map]		Scavenged wood [Map]
	About $36 worth of wood, scavenged [Map]		Steep trail [Map]
	Fork in the trail [Map]		The town [Map]
	Beach area [Map]		Restaurant menu [Map]
	Pier, express and camping check-in [Map]		8 bucks a gallon! [Map]
	The other harbor [Map]		Didn't see any, but saw lots of buffalo prints [Map]
	From the trail [Map]		Spot 29 approaching twilight [Map]
	Dinner view [Map]		Trail and campground from the boat [Map]

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