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Santa Cruz Island

Prisoners Harbor

Historic Farm Building - Prisoners Harbor

We left Santa Barbara August 8^th at 9:30am with only 2-3 foot swells that increased later to 4-6 foot swells striking us abeam with 15-20 knot winds – one of those “not as advertised forecasts;” but what the heck, we’ve had worse. We headed south across the Santa Barbara Channel, all systems go, and arrived at 11:30am in Prisoners Harbor on Santa Cruz Island. Santa Cruz is the largest of the Channel Islands and is one of several that make up the Channel Islands National Park. Numerous trails traverse the Island and a road used by tour operators leads from Prisoners Harbor to an access trail for a primitive campground. We took our kayaks ashore and walked part way up the graveled road, stopping at several overlooks that provide great views of the Harbor. The island is rich in cultural history with over 10,000 years of American Indian habitation. It is estimated that 2,000 Chumash natives lived on the Island when Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo arrived in 1542. Like other islands in the National Park, Santa Cruz is home to unique species of plants, birds, and animals such as the Island Scrub Jay. The tiny 4-pound Santa Cruz Island fox is found nowhere else in the world and the rare yellow & white Silver Lotus flower is found only on Santa Cruz Island. We departed Prisoners Harbor the following morning and motored along the Island’s shoreline to admire the many sea caves, impressive cliffs, grass covered plateaus, and mountains. On our way south, we passed Scorpion Ranch, one of several historic buildings on the Island, including another at Prisoners Harbor, that remain from the ranching era of the late 1800’s, early 1900’s.