The Channel Islands have the elements of a great national park: amazing scenery, abundant wildlife and wildflowers, fascinating historic sites, and a sea voyage besides. Thanks to that amazing scenery and flora and fauna, this national park is also a National Marine Sanctuary. And because you have to take a boat or plane trip to visit these islands, enjoying the park's attributes is much more of an adventure than a typical national park visit.
A bonus of that limited access is that overcrowding doesn't exist here. Visitation in 2012 was only about 250,000 people. That same year, Yosemite had 4 million visitors, about 16 times as many. Besides being a National Park and a National Marine Sanctuary, it's also part of the International Man and the Biosphere Program. Channel Islands National Park consists of five islands, four islands that form a chain: San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and Anacapa; and one separated from the others, Santa Barbara. The mainland of California and the four Channel Islands form the Santa Barbara Channel. Strange as it may seem, the island called "Santa Barbara" is not part of the Channel that bears that name.
Your starting point should be the park's visitor center, which is on the mainland in the city of Ventura. You'll find displays, an indoor tide pool, maps, books, and a simulated caliche (kah lee chee) ghost forest (more about that later). The telescope on top of the building enables you to get a closer look at the islands, on a clear day.
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