• There are five islands that constitute the Channel Islands National Park— Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel and Santa Barbara.

• The Channel Islands and their surrounding waters are home to more than 2,000 plants and animals, of which 145 are found nowhere else in the world.

• Island foxes are the smallest North American canids and occur only on the Channel Islands. The average weight for an adult male is 5 to 6 pounds, about the size of a cat.

• The islands are one of the least visited of all of America’s national parks, with fewer than 250,000 guests annually.

• Channel Islands are home to the oldest dated human remains in North America, the Arlington Springs Woman (13,000 years BP).

• Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and his Spanish fleet first came upon San Miguel Island in 1542.

• With California statehood in 1850, the islands became part of the United States.

• Through their long histories, the Channel Islands have been host to Chumash and Tongva peoples, explorers, traders, prisoners, smugglers, ranchers, vaqueros, surfers, shipwreck victims and Coast Guard personnel.

Information courtesy of National Park Service.