| Santa Cruz Island (60,645 acres) - Largest and most
diverse of the islands within the park, Santa Cruz Island is about 24 miles long and it's
eastern tip is is 16 miles from Channel Islands Harbor. Its land area is about 96 square
miles. The central valley's north slope is a rugged ridge; the south slope is an older,
more weathered ridge. At 2,470 feet, the highest of the Channel Islands mountains is found
here. Santa Cruz Island's 77 mile varied coastline has steep cliffs, gigantic sea caves,
inviting coves and sandy beaches. The shoreline cliffs, beaches, offshore rocks, and
tidepools provide important breeding habitat for colonies of nesting sea birds and diverse
plants and animals. The varied topography and ample freshwater support a remarkable array
of flora and fauna--more than 600 plant species, 140 land bird species, and a small,
distinctive group of other land animals. 
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info
Of the 85 plant species native to the Channel Islands, nine occur only on Santa Cruz.
The Santa Cruz Island ironwood, the island oak, the island fox, scrub jay and other
distinctive plant and animal species have adapted to the island's unique environment. To
biologists, Santa Cruz is specifically significant for its diversity of habitat, greater
than any other of the Channel Islands.
Chumash Indians inhabited Santa Cruz Island for more that 6,000 years. When Juan
Rodriguez Cabrillo arrived in 1542, as many as 2,000 Chumash Indians probably lived here.
Ranching began on the island in 1839, with a Mexican land grant to Andres Castillero,
and continued to the early 1980s.
In 1988 the Nature Conservancy acquired the western 90 percent of the island. Landing permits are required to go ashore there. The
National Park Service owns the eastern 10%, where visitors may observe wildlife, hike,
camp and explore the newest addition to the park. Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the
Channel Islands. It is an island of great scenic beauty with diverse land forms--two
rugged mountain ranges, deep canyons, a wide central valley, year-round springs and
streams, giant sea caves, 77 miles of craggy coastline cliffs, pristine tidepools and
expansive beaches.
Over 650 species of plants and trees are on the island, growing in marshes, grasslands,
chaparral, and pine forests. Eight of the plants are endemic--found nowhere else. The
island fox is also found on Santa Cruz, as well as over 140 land bird species, marine
mammals, and tidepool critters. The largest and deepest known sea cave in the world,
Painted Cave, is on Santa Cruz. Evidence of human occupation can be seen in Chumash Indian
sites up through Spanish exploration and ranching days.
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