Santa Cruz Island

The Channel Islands are an archipelago off California's coast. The islands are home to a national park due to the many rare species of plants and birds found there. Many consider the Channel Islands to be the United States "Galapagos". Santa Cruz Island is one in the archipelago named for a priest's staff that accidentally got left behind on the Portola Expedition of 1769. The Chumash Indians brought the staff back to the priest, thus they named the island Sacred Cross because they were impressed the Indians would return such an item.

The Nature Conservancy owns 76 percent of the island, while 24 percent of it is part of the National Park Service holdings. The geology, flora and fauna of the island make it an important one to study especially because two of California's highest peaks are on the island rising more than 2,000 feet. It is also the largest island in the chain at 96 square miles. There is a fault system that runs underground with deep canyons, streams, and 77 miles of cliff coastline. A number of large sea caves, tide pools, and beaches attract tourists to this particular island, as does the 600 plant species.