What is special about Channel Islands National Park?

What is special about Channel Islands National Park?

The park provides truly unique opportunities for visitors to experience California’s natural beauty beneath the sea. Established as Channel Islands National Park in 1980, this park includes a marine sanctuary that protects six nautical miles of water around the park itself.

What is Channel Islands known for?

The U.S. military uses the islands as training grounds, weapons test sites, and as a strategic defensive location. The Channel Islands and the surrounding waters house a diverse ecosystem with many endemic species and subspecies. The islands harbor 150 unique species of plant.

What is unique about Channel Islands?

The Channel Islands were created by tectonic forces, which caused them to rise up out of the ocean five million years ago. They have always been islands separate from the mainland, and thus have unique plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth.

Why is Channel Islands a national park?

In order to protect the nationally significant natural, scenic, wildlife, marine, ecological, archeological, cultural, and scientific values of the Channel Islands in the State of California…… there is hereby established the Channel Islands National Park.

What is the most beautiful Channel Island?

Santa Barbara Island offers some of the most spectacular vistas of the Channel Islands, and you can experience them while hiking the miles of trails that are available. Visit during wildflower season for incredible displays. Santa Barbara Island is also ideal for swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, and diving.

How were the Channel Islands formed?

This probably led to an uplift of the area and the deposit of sediment in an alluvial plane, much like the present alluvial plain of the Santa Clara river in the Oxnard-Ventura area. The pink-colored rocks of the Sespe Formation were deposited about 30 million years ago in this uplifted area.

What are 3 interesting facts about Channel Islands?

Channel Islands Fast Facts

• Channel Islands National Park covers a total area of 249,354 acres.
• The number of people visiting Channel Islands in 2019 was 409,630 (All Years)
• Channel Islands was made a national park on March 5, 1980.
• The lowest elevation found in Channel Islands is 0 feet at the Pacific Ocean.

What is the climate in Channel Islands?

Channel Islands National Park has a Mediterranean-type climate. This climate type is characterized by cool, wet winters with average annual rainfall of 8-40” and hot, dry summers.

How big is the Channel Islands National Park?

390 mi²
Channel Islands National Park/Area