Hiking the Airport Loop, Catalina Island.

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Hiking Catalina Island, The Airport Loop!

Catalina Island's Airport Loop - Click for a Larger Picture

Best time of the year to go?	Catalina has mild temperatures all year.
Distance of hike?	2.58 statute miles
Drinking water on the trail?	No but it's available at the airport.
Rate difficulty of hike. 1 being easy, 5 being hard.	2 - Rated by a 280lb 55 year old man.
Rate this hike with 10 being best, 5 average.	7.0 - I enjoyed this hike so much I did the loop twice.



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	Flight Planning at SkyVector.com
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The Home of Bellanca N4201B

There are so many things to do on Catalina Island this location deserves a couple of pages. That and I could find very little on the internet about hiking Catalina Island. I flew the 50.2 miles to Catalina Island and see what's available for a hike. When I paid my landing fee I asked about hiking and was sold a $2.00 brochure which helped a little.

I had a light lunch at the Airport Restaurant before hitting the trail. I strapped on my GPS watch so I could map out the trail. The picture above is a result of that.

The Airport Loop hike is pretty easy. Not a lot of grade change. The views of the ocean below are spectacular and depending on the weather you can usually see the mainland across the channel. The entire hike is below the airport elevation so while you're always close to the airport you forget that. I didn't feel the need to carry any water since it's available at the Airport Restaurant.

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	Crossing the channel one can clearly see the airport on the hilltop. I was about 10 miles out when I took this.
	Airport in the sky.
	Hiking the airport trail.
	I think we've all felt like that at one time or another.
	A second pond on the hike. The dirt area in the foreground is from buffalo bedding down
	The trail goes under both ends of the runway. Take a break at the approach end for some pictures.
	Catalina Flying Boat's on the go!
	Catalina Flying Boat's on the go!
	The trail is clearly marked.
	Sometimes one is forced off the trail and must seek another route.
	This was a surprise.
	Quarry that goes with sign above
	Departing Avalon's airport. The Avalon VOR in the foreground, Airport in the Sky beyond.

Last Updated
July 30, 2010