Channel Islands National Park

Introducing Channel Islands National Park

The Channel Islands is an eight-island chain lying off the coast from Newport Beach to Santa Barbara. The four northern islands - San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Anacapa - along with tiny Santa Barbara island 38 miles west of San Pedro comprise the Channel Islands National Park. The islands have unique flora and fauna and extensive tidepools and kelp forests. Here you’ll find almost 150 mostly plant and a few animal species that are not found anywhere else in the world.

Originally inhabited by the Chumash and Gabrielino peoples (who were taken to the mainland missions in the early 1800s), the islands were owned by sheep ranchers and the US Navy until the mid-1970s, when conservation efforts began. San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Anacapa and Santa Barbara Islands are now administered by the National Park Service (NPS), which also controls 20% of Santa Cruz (the other 80% belongs to the Nature Conservancy).

Last updated: Jul 22, 2009