Santa Cruz Island

The largest of the islands in Channel Islands National Park is Santa Cruz. It is approximately 19 miles from the coast of California. It is the most accessible of the large Channel Islands, requiring a trip of an hour and a half or so now. In the early 20th century the same trip would take 3-4 hours. The island can be seen below as it is approached from the channel.

The island of Santa Cruz is quite large. It is the largest of all the Channel Islands, covering 63,000 acres or nearly 100 square miles. It is, in fact, the largest island off the western coast of the United States, covering 4 times the size of Manhattan.The island of Santa Cruz is about 22 miles long and ranges from approximately 2 to 6 miles wide. It has an extensive coastline, totaling about 70.5 miles, much of it characterized by steep cliffs which rise above the water.

Island History The history of the island is very interesting. In 1839, Mexico made a grant of the island of Santa Cruz to Andres Castillero. Very little deveopment took place during Castillero's ownership, although sheep ranching began in the early 1850's. In 1857, the island was sold to William E. Barron. In 1869, a group of San Francisco investors, including Justinian Caire, formed the Santa Cruz Island Company and bought the island.

By 1880, Caire had gained control of the entire island, and began a variety of ranching and agricultural activities. He established 10 ranches on the island. He planted vineyards, orchards, crops, and engaged in sheep ranching activities. Between 60 and 100 people lived and worked on the island. Caire even established a private telephone communications system on the island.

Following the passing of Caire, his children separated into two groups and became involved in lengthy legal battles over ownership and control of the island. In 1925, the island was separated into 7 parcels, the western 5 controlled by one group of children and the 2 eastern parcels controlled by others.

In 1937, heirs of Justinian Caire, as the Santa Cruz Island Company, sold the large western area of the island, comprising 90% of the island, to Edwin L. Stanton. The eastern 2 parcels of the island were owned by the Gherini family, also descendants of Caire. This ended 57 years of ownership of the island control of the full island by the Caire family. Stanton himself began to inquire about the interest of the Natinal Park Service in acquiring his property for inclusion in a national park. During his ownership ranching activities continued on his part of the island.

In 1978, Edwin Stanton entered into an agreement with the Nature Conservancy to sell his 90% of the island to this privtate group dedicated to preservation of wild and natural places. Information about the disposition of the eastern section of the island is detailed later in the Scorpion Ranch section of the site.

Island Information A number of Chumash Indians had permanent settlements on Santa Cruz Island, which they called "Limu." These people lived on the island for some 7000 years. The first nonindigenous owner of the island was Andres Castillero, who was granted titled to the island on May 22, 1839, as described above.

Santa Cruz is not only the largest island, but it also has the highest point in the park, the mountain known as Picacho Diablo, at 2434 feet.

Santa Cruz is mountainous and rugged, and is the most topographically diverse of the Channel Islands. There are deep canyons, and it is characterized by sizable ridges and two mountainous ridges which runs east to west across the middle of the western section of the island. There are only a few areas of truly level land.

Interestingly, the north shore of Santa Cruz, which is pictured in the photographs in this section, was a favorite shooting locale for early moviemakers. For example, in 1912 a motion picture called Heart of My Heart was shot on the island. Another picture, called Undine, was also shot on the island. Between 1912 and 1937 a resort, popular with writers and film companies was run at Pelican Bay.

The coastal cliffs of Santa Cruz island are perforated by a number of sea caves, which provide exploration opportunities for kayakers, particularly in the Smuggler's Cove area. A section of the north coast is shown below.

The cliffs of Santa Cruz are spectacular, towering 200 feet above the sea and marked by rugged rocks at many locations. The islands get two high and two low tides per 24 hour period.

The island of Santa Cruz is characterized by a Mediterranean-like climate, with cool and rainy winters and a warm, dry summer season.

Unlike Anacapa Island, Santa Cruz does have fresh water, possessing a number of permanent springs and some permanent streams as well. If offers a number of recreational opportunities, some of which are available at Scorpion Anchorage (below), where many island visitors arrive.