Stop 1: Cavern Point Tour

Santa Cruz Island

Tim Hauf, timhaufphotography.com

Nowhere Else on Earth
Close to the mainland yet worlds apart, Santa Cruz Island, along with the other Channel Islands, is home to plants and animals that are found nowhere else on earth. Like on the Galapagos Islands of South America, isolation has allowed evolution to proceed independently on the islands, fostering the development of 145 endemic or unique species. Santa Cruz Island is host to 60 of these endemic species. Some, like the island jay, are found only on Santa Cruz.

Isolation also has played a major role in shaping human activities on the island. While the southern California coastal mainland has seen extensive development, the Channel Islands are undeveloped. The island's separation from the mainland by 25 miles of an often turbulent ocean has limited and directed human use and occupation for thousands of years. And it continues today, giving us a chance to see coastal southern California as it once was.

So step back in time and experience the island's isolation as you walk to Cavern Point. It's like nowhere else on earth.