Santa Rosa Island is the second largest of the Channel Islands and lies about 26 nautical miles (nm) from Santa Barbara. The island is nearly 17 nm long, 10.75 nm wide at the widest point, and 53,195 acres or 83.118 sq. mi. The highest peak is Vail Peak, at 1589 feet. It is a diverse island of grass-covered rolling hills, steep canyons, creeks, rocky inter-tidal areas and sandy beaches adorned with sand dunes and driftwood. The Chumash people who lived in the Channel Islands at the time of European contact called the driftwood wima because channel currents brought ashore logs from which they built tomols, a plank canoe.

Diving

A rockfish hiding among the kelp at Santa Rosa Island

In the 1970’s and 80’s scuba divers flocked to Santa Rosa to take advantage of the many species of game fish available. Talcott shoals, lying off the Northwest section of the island is a large plateau that offers various terrains for divers. The western section of Talcott becomes more dramatic in its topography and offers not only game divers hunting opportunities, but great photo opportunities as well. The wreck of the Aggie lays in 25 to 50 feet of water along a ridge that today is basically scattered steel beams and plate. The East End has a wonderful assortment of pinnacles that are covered in corynactis and clouds of fish. Santa Rosa Island is a transition island where the water begins to chill and you begin to see both cold water, and warmer water species combined.

Kayaking

Kayaking Santa Rosa Island can be challenging and should be attempted by experienced kayakers due to the quickly changing weather and currents that can occur at this island. The sandy beaches and cliffs are breeding and resting areas for sea birds and seals and sea lions. Exploring the island in this way offers a unique experience of seeing these larger marine mammals and seabirds.

Hiking

A group of hikers exploring Lobo Canyon on Santa Rosa Island

There are several trail options for hiking Santa Rosa Island ranging from flat trails and roads to more those that are more rugged. The island has a variety of rare plants many of which are not found any place else in the world and the endangered Torrey Pine forest is a must see. Santa Rosa has several rare plants, some of which are found nowhere else in the world. It also is home to the endemic island fox and the spotted skunk.

A variety of Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana var. insularis) grows on the island. The population of this endangered species is estimated at approximately 1000 trees. Physicist C. Michael Hogan postulates that the P. torreyana was first brought to the island from the Central Coast mainland by Chumash peoples using their plank canoes. The Island Oak (Quercus tomentella) is native to the island.

Flightless geese, giant mice and pygmy mammoths are extinct, while the island fox, spotted skunk, and munchkin dudleya (Dudleya gnoma) one of the six endemic plant species on the island, still live there. The island is home to one of only three known populations of Hoffman's rockcress.

History

The world’s most complete, intact pygmy mammoth skeleton was found and excavated on Santa Rosa in 1994. It was 5.5 feet tall and approximately 12,240 years old.

Photo: National Park Service

Archeological and paleontological sites are abundant on the island. In 1994, the world's most complete skeleton of a pygmy mammoth (Mammuthus exilis) had been excavated; a dwarf species related to the Columbian mammoths. In 1960 archaeologists discovered humans remains dating back 13,000 years at Arlington Springs on Santa Rosa Island. These remains are among the oldest human remains in the Americas and were discovered by Phil C. Orr, curator of anthropology and natural history at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Orr believed the remains were those of a 10,000-year old man and dubbed them the "Arlington Springs Man".

The Arlington Springs Man was later re-examined by Orr's successor at the museum, John R. Johnson. Johnson came to the initial assessment that the Arlington Springs Man was actually the "Arlington Springs Woman". Radiocarbon dating determined that the remains dated to 13,000 years B.C. making the remains potentially the oldest-known human skeleton in North America. The term "Arlington Springs Woman" was used at that time to refer to these remains. After further study, Johnson reversed his assessment in 2006, concluding that the remains were more likely those of a man, and the name "Arlington Springs Man" was again the more appropriate name.

The Arlington Springs Man lived on Santa Rosa at the end of the Pleistocene. His presence on an island at such an early date demonstrates that the earliest Paleoindians had watercraft capable of crossing the Santa Barbara Channel, and lends credence as well to a "coastal migration" theory for the peopling of the Americas. During the last ice age, the four northern Channel Islands, including Santa Rosa Island, were conjoined into Santa Rosa, a single island that was only five miles off the coast.

Santa Rosa Island was originally part of a Spanish land grant. The island was used as a sheep ranch during the mid-1800s by the More family. Then during the cold war the United States Air Force maintained a radar base on the island. In the late 1970s Mobil Oil Corporation was granted exploration rights on the island. Both explosive and vibroseis exploration methods were used. Extensive surveys and geological maps were made at that time. And finally in 1980, Santa Rosa Island was included within Channel Islands National Park. The island's owners since 1902, ranchers Vail & Vickers of Santa Barbara, were opposed to inclusion of the island in the park. Vail & Vickers used the island for cattle ranching and a private hunting reserve. Vail & Vickers successfully lobbied to have the legislation stipulate that purchase of their land would be the highest priority of the Channel Islands National Park. The Vail & Vickers voluntarily sold the island in 1986 for the appraised value of nearly $30 million. The initial agreement to allow continuation of the ranching and hunting operation for three months was extended under a series of special use permits issued by the National Park Service. A lawsuit by National Parks Conservation Association in 1996 resulted in a court-approved settlement agreement, which included removal of all cattle from the island and phased reduction by Vail & Vickers of the non-native deer and elk by 2011.