Imagine an island paradise: rolling hills and exquisite wildflowers, turquoise water crashing into rocky sea caves, and creatures found nowhere else on earth. Although this may sound like a faraway dream, it’s actually right here in our backyard!

Channel Islands National Park

Channel Islands National Park encompasses five of the eight islands off the coast of Southern California and has created a refuge for the historic sites, endangered species, and endemic plants that live there.

Here’s hoping these ten tips help you on your way to experiencing the magic of one of these island gems!

1. Plan ahead

24 miles long and 6 miles wide, Santa Cruz is the largest island in California, located 20 miles west of Ventura. To get to this island getaway, sail your yacht, jet across in your speedboat, or take the ferry with the rest of us. Island Packers is the only commercial water transportation to the 5 islands that make up the park. Island Packers ferries leave once or twice a day from Ventura and Channel Islands (Oxnard) Harbors. Book your ferry tickets in advance, especially on holiday weekends. Roundtrip tickets to Santa Cruz are $80, but I assure you it is money well spent!

2. Be on the lookout for sea life

The hour-long ferry ride can double as a whale watching adventure. One third of the world’s dolphins, whales, and porpoises either live or migrate through this channel, so keep your eyes peeled. We saw two humpback whales and dozens of dolphins on a trip in February 2015. Once on the island, Smuggler’s Cove is a common beach to spot seals and dolphins.

3. Choose a hike based on the time you have available

Looking for a short day trip? From Scorpion Anchorage head past the campground and follow the signs for Potato Harbor. You will find this little cove nestled in amongst crashing waves and rocky crags stretching out to sea. Double back along the bluff trail and take the turn off for Cavern Point. The little chunk of rock at the top is a brilliant place to catch the sunset over the western side of the island. Continue forward to finish up the 5-mile loop back at Scorpion Beach.

Looking for a more challenging hike? Head south from Scorpion Anchorage and take Smuggler’s Road to the secluded cove on the other side of the island. Once you’re there, look for critters in the tide pools, or explore the steep-walled canyon that heads back inland behind the ranch house.

For more strenuous mountain terrain, turn off Smuggler’s Road at the sign for Montañon Ridge and head up the ridge for a grand view looking down on the East side of the island. Each of these more challenging hikes are about 8 miles round trip, so make sure you bring water for the whole day and don’t be late to catch your afternoon ferry!

Zipper The Fox

4. Camp smart

Scorpion Ranch Campground is small (31 sites), but comfortable, with water faucets, pit toilets, and food storage boxes to protect your goodies from the adorable but tricky island foxes. We watched one wise fox tug open the zipper of a backpack at the site next to us and pull out a Clif bar!

Hoping for a quick phone charge or run to the mini mart? No such luck, you won’t find electric outlets, stores or vehicles on the island. Reserve your site ahead of time and be prepared to carry your gear half a mile from the ferry dock to the campground. For the ambitious and experienced backpackers, there’s also the Del Norte backcountry site, 3.5 miles from Prisoner’s Harbor and 12 miles from Scorpion Anchorage if you want to make a multi-day trek across the island.

5. Find a species found nowhere else on earth

Whether you glimpse the blue wings of an Island Scrub Jay soaring above you or spot the vibrant red of an Island Monkey Flower, you have witnessed a species found no where else on earth! The isolation of these islands from the mainland has led to the evolution of many unique species. Santa Cruz Island is home to 60 of the 145 endemic species found on the Channel Islands. Be careful where you tread, nine of these endemic plants are listed as Endangered!

6. Travel back in time

The story of the Channel Islands begins 13,000 years back in time, back to the oldest known human presence in North America. The native Chumash people lived on these islands, subsisting off of the natural resources of the islands and traveling in large plank canoes to trade their shell-bead money and tools made of Chert with inland tribes.

Go on an archeological scavenger hunt and look for middens (large piles of shells and fish bones left behind by the Chumash) scattered throughout the island. Reflect on this ancient culture, which was quickly sickened by European disease or scattered from the islands after Spanish explorers arrived in 1542.

7. Imagine the rancher life

By the mid 1800s most of the islands were owned by large ranching families and stocked with pigs, cattle, horses, and sheep. At Scorpion Ranch, you can see the remains of a slaughterhouse, blacksmith shop, and bunkhouse, relics of the Ranching Era. Besides livestock, there were also fruit trees, vineyards, walnuts, and olives grown on the island. Enter the visitor center in the old bunkhouse to learn more about the keeper of this island, Justinian Caire, and his family’s legacy.

8. Go birdwatching

Sea, shore, and land birds abound on this luscious island! In 2006, Santa Cruz Island witnessed the first bald eagle chick to hatch on the islands unaided by humans in 50 years. Brown Pelicans and Peregrine Falcons have also made a come back on the islands in the last 10 years. Head to Prisoner’s Harbor along with birders from across the world to spot the Island Scrub Jay, found nowhere but Santa Cruz Island.

9. Bring a wildflower field guide

Springtime welcomes myriad wildflowers out on the islands, some of which are found nowhere else on Earth. Easy to identify, the wild cucumber is endemic to the islands and is distinguished by the bright green orbs with spiky looking tendrils and vines of small white flowers. Adorning the hillsides in yellow are the giant coreopsis and mustard flowers. Here’s an interpretive guide to get you started on your wildflower wanderings.

10. Celebrate a conservation success

For three centuries many resources were hunted, harvested, and grazed aggressively, including elephant seals, otters, abalone shells, and native grasses. In 1938 Channel Islands National Monument was established and by 1980 it had become a national park, encompassing the surrounding waters of the islands as well. Non-native species were removed from the islands, and efforts were made to restore native populations of otters, brown pelicans, island foxes, and bald eagles, bringing many of those species back from the brink of extinction.

Today, 76% of Santa Cruz Island is owned by the Nature Conservancy and kept even more wild and natural than the 24% owned by the National Park Service. These islands truly are a success story and model for many other conservation efforts across the nation!

So, who needs a luxury cruise or a glamorous holiday when this island oasis awaits just off the coast? This astounding legacy of archeological sites, historic ranches, rebounding native species, and a biodiversity unlike any other is waiting for your next family vacation, three-day weekend or solo adventure. I hope you enjoy Santa Cruz Island as much as I did and continue to relish and explore Southern California’s big, beautiful backyard!

At High Trails Outdoor Science School, we literally force our instructors to write about elementary outdoor education, teaching outside, learning outside, our dirty classroom (the forest…gosh), environmental science, outdoor science, and all other tree hugging student and kid loving things that keep us engaged, passionate, driven, loving our job, digging our life, and spreading the word to anyone whose attention we can hold for long enough to actually make it through reading this entire sentence. Whew…. www.dirtyclassroom.com