Stop 1: Cherry Canyon Tour

Aerial view of Channel Islands.

Tim Hauf, timhaufphotography.com

Nowhere Else on Earth
Close to the mainland, yet worlds apart, Santa Rosa Island, along with the other Channel Islands, is home to plants and animals that are found nowhere else on Earth. Like on the Galápagos Islands of South America, isolation has allowed evolution to proceed independently on the islands, fostering the development of nearly 150 endemic or unique plants and animals. Santa Rosa Island is home to 46 of these and some, like the rare munchkin dudleya, are found only on Santa Rosa Island.

Isolation has also played a major role in shaping human activities on the island. While the southern California coastal mainland has seen extensive development, the Channel Islands remain undeveloped. The islands' separation from the mainland by over 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 from the pier through Cherry Canyon and eventually on to Water Canyon Beach. It's like nowhere else on Earth.