Scorpion Anchorage

After the island was partitioned, as described on a previous page, the Gherini family took control of and began ranching the two parcels on the eastern section of the island. An active sheep ranching operation took place from 1926-1984. By 1997, however, the National Park Service had successfully acquired all of the Gherini land for inclusion in Channel Islands National Park.

The eastern entrance to the island lies at Scorpion Anchorage, shown below. There is a small beach here where Scorpion Valley meets the sea. At the time of the first European contact with the islands, on Cabrillo's 1542 voyage, about 1200 Chumash lived on Santa Cruz Island.

There is a modern pier running into the harbor at Scorpion Anchorage, which can be seen below. Before a pier existed, sheep and other cargo had to be loaded off of ships and transported to the shore in small boats called "lighters." The first pier was built here in the early 1930's, constructed of wood. The pier was used to load sheep from the sheep ranch onto boats to carry them to the mainland. After its destruction by weather, a new pier was built of concrete and wood in 1938.

In 1966, a steel pier was constructed. Finally, the current pier was built by the National Park Service in 1999, on the concrete block of the 1938 pier.

The Scorpion Bluffs arise above the water of the harbor at Scorpion Anchorage.

On the other side of the Anchorage steep cliffs rise from the water.

There are some 750 archaelogical sites on Santa Cruz Island.The Chumash had about 10 villages on Santa Cruz Island distributed along the coastline. One of their villages was located on the site of Scorpion Anchorage, known as Swaxil. This village was inhabited by somewhere between 180 and 210 Chumash. The anchorage, and an Island Packers boat, are seen below just inland from the the sea.

In this picture from above Scorpion Canyon the anchorage can be seen, along with the pier and one of the Island Packers boats which carries visitors to the island.

Scorpion Canyon runs from the sea inland up into the hills of the eastern part of the island. It is not clear how the canyon got its name, although this might refer to the shape of the canyon or to the presences of small scorpions in the area.

Scorpion Anchorage is a popular recreational site on Santa Cruz Island. Kayaking (seen here), swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving all take place in the harbor.