Santa Cruz Island

NASA satellite image of Santa Cruz Island.

Santa Cruz Island is a privately owned, 22 mile (35 km) long island off the coast of California. It is part of the northern group of the Channel Islands of California and at 60,645 acres (245.42 km²) is the largest of the eight islands in the chain. Santa Cruz Island is located within Santa Barbara County.

Three-fourths of Santa Cruz has been owned by The Nature Conservancy since 1987, when it was willed to that group by owner Carey Stanton. The remaining fourth once belonged to the Gherini family and is now part of the Channel Islands National Park.