The Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center Building description: The Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center sits at the tip of the Ventura Harbor. Surrounded by water, this striking two-story gray building has open air exhibits spaces, balconies, an outdoor amphitheater area and viewing tower. A live tidal pool with daily talks and exhibits encompass the unique character of each park island. The four-story viewing tower is embellished with artistically cut metalwork in a green patina of kelp, fish and a pelican. The tower interior offers exhibits and views of Ventura Harbor, the Channel Islands, and the Ventura coastline. The Center’s interior exhibits have several marine and Channel Islands related educational displays including a rocky tidepool, elephant seal exhibit and pygmy mammoth exhibit. There is also a theatre, and Information Center.

The Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center at Channel Islands National Park features a bookstore, a display of marine aquatic life, and exhibits featuring the unique character of each park island. Visitors also will enjoy the 25-minute park movie, “A Treasure in the Sea,” shown throughout the day in the auditorium (closed-caption film available upon request). The fully accessible visitor center is open 8:30 am until 5 pm daily. The visitor center is closed on Thanksgiving and December 25th.

Green leaved and yellow flowered plant next to sign that reads Channel Islands National Park.

Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center at Channel Islands National Park

Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center

The visitor center is open 8:30 am until 5 pm daily. The visitor center is closed on Thanksgiving and December 25th.

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graphic image of circle with text inside that states channel islands national park virtual visit ven

Located in the bustling Waterfront of Santa Barbara's working harbor, the visitor center offers one of the best views of the city, beaches, harbor, mountains, wharf and islands. Stepping inside the visitor center there are interpretive displays about Chumash culture, Spanish explorers, Missionaries and American Ranchers. A spectacular mosaic tiled floor showing the Channel Islands and the Marine Sanctuary, the Rainbow Bridge legend and flowers native to the islands. An underwater kelp forest mural delights visitors who are curious about the marine life that inhabits our park and marine sanctuary. Garabaldi, tiger sharks, sea stars, lobster, abalone, and urchins are just a few of the species found in the kelp forest mural. Numerous free brochures and reference materials about the forest, park, sanctuary and the city of Santa Barbara are available for the visitor. A computer screen displays websites of all four agencies for ease in accessing updated information. Our outside deck has several interpretive displays about the park, the sanctuary and the forest. A telescope is setup for viewing wildlife and the visitor will find comfortable benches to sit and enjoy the spectacular views from the fourth floor deck.

The small Outdoors Santa Barbara Visitor Center not only has one of the best views of Santa Barbara, but also offers visitors information about Channel Islands National Park, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, and the City of Santa Barbara. Open 10 am until 5 pm. Closed every Wednesday, Christmas Day, New Year's Day,Thanksgiving Day, and the First Friday in August for Fiesta. Also, occasionally closes early for special events.

View of harbor with boats and tall mountains.

Outdoors Santa Barbara Visitor Center

Open 10 am until 5 pm Thursday through Sunday. Closed Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day, and the First Friday in August for Fiesta. Also, occasionally closes early for special events.

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In an open field, next to the airplane landing strip, sits the ranger station. It is an L-shaped wooden building. The building has brown, planked wood siding. If facing the front of the building, four upper, clerestory windows are visible near the peak of the roof. A lower roof overhangs the front of the building, supported by beams and posts, creating a covered walkway. Along that walkway, at ground level, five windows alternate with five doors. Two wooden benches along the exterior wall provide seating. At the bend of the L-shape is a 10-foot by 10-foot structure that sticks up about 10 feet taller than the roof. Sticking up from it are several tall rods and a shallow, concave-shaped satellite dish. An outdoor lamp attached to the side. In front of the station is a picnic table and a flagpole, flying the United States flag. On the left side of the walkway is a low wire frame platform. Mounted on top of this is a large brush, made of stiff blue plastic spikes, used to clean off the bottoms of boots. Further to the left is a small, single-seater wood plank outhouse, with symbols on the door representing both a man and a woman. Several other small storage sheds are nearby.The ranger station information center is through the second door from the right. The room is a large and open space, with high ceilings. It has light wood paneling. Windows line the back wall behind a partially-partitioned area with desks and a table with two chairs. Colorful pictures on the walls display island views. On the left side of the room are two doors leading to equipment and supply closets. To the right is a television, set on the top of a corner cabinet, with a shelf of videos below it.

The visitor contact and ranger station is only open when staff is present.

San Miguel Island Visitor Contact and Ranger Station

San Miguel Island Ranger and Visitor Contact Station

San Miguel Island Passport Stamp

If you are standing at the flagpole, facing the Santa Barbara Island Visitor Center, you are on a high bluff, and the ocean is far below, on your left. You are in the middle of a coreopsis forest. Depending on the season, the coreopsis, with a thick, bare trunk, topped by a shaggy mop of yellow flowers and feathery green leaves, shaped like fluffy ostrich feathers. In late summer, fall or winter, the coreopsis will turn into waist-high brown stalks that look dead. The single-story beige building, has a roof made of overlapping curved red tiles. On the wall, facing you, are two wooden signs with white lettering. The one on the ocean side reads, "Visitor Center." The one on the land side reads, "Private Residence." Between the signs are two narrow vertical windows. Below the windows, running the length of the building are several dense shrubs. An open patio extends out on the ocean side of the building, but watch your step, as it is about ten inches above ground. Just off this patio is the door to the visitor center and a tall window with a view into the exhibit. The patio has a picnic table and an outdoor panel about sea bird habitat, described separately. Beyond this first patio is another, gated, patio, blocked by a brick wall. On the opposite side of building-the "Private Residence" side- is a walkway running the length of the building.

A small visitor center is located on the island. Features include displays on the natural and cultural resources of the island.

small building on an ocean bluff with green plants and yellow flowers in front.

Santa Barbara Island Visitor Contact Station

Santa Barbara Island Visitor Center

The visitor center is open 8:30 am until 5 pm daily.

Visitor Contact Station Santa Barbara Island

Visitor Center Stamp

Standing in the doorway of the school house facing inward, the interior is about 16 feet long and 8 feet wide. The walls and ceiling are finished with narrow vertical wooden slat paneling, painted white. The ceiling has a framed inset panel, to access the attic, and a white ceramic ceiling lamp, with a brass mount. The wooden plank floor has a glossy polish. Moving into the room, along the left wall, you will find a framed window with thin wooden mullions containing 12 glass panes; a mounted metal box; a clear plastic pamphlet holder; an information panel; two larger exhibit panels with a low wooden green bench below them; six exhibits with large photographs; and a wall plaque that reads,AcknowledgementsImages of Santa Cruz Island, Santa Rosa Island and Nuestra Senora del RefugioCommemorating Early Land Grants on Both Sides of the ChannelAn exhibition organized by the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic PreservationExhibition Sponsors: The Henry W. Bull FoundationCurators: Carol Storke, Anne Petersen, Curator. SBTHPCuratorial Assistant: Amanda WillifordPhotography and Printing: William B. DeweyGraphic Design: Mary KirkPatrick, Clearview StudioPrint Mounting: Ken KirkPatrick, Anacapa SignsSpecial Thanks:Chris Chapman, Manager, Arroyo Hondo Preserve; Peggy Dahl, Santa Cruz Island Foundation; Marla Daily, President, Santa Cruz Island Foundation; Neal Graffy, Elizabeth Hvolboll, Michael Redmon, Archivist, Santa Barbara Historical Society; Terri Sheridan, Archivist, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History; Nita Vail, Executive Director, California Rangeland Trust; Kim Walters, Archivist, Southwest Museum; Lynn Weber, Curatorial Volunteer, SBTHP. Will Woolley and the staff, board and many volunteers at the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation. On the lower right corner of the plaque is the Seal of the Santa Barbara Trust Historic Preservation, a round logo, with a center illustration of an early adobe brick Spanish mission building, with a bell tower with a cross on top.Along the back wall is wooden door, and also two tall closet doors.Along the right wall, from back to front, are two windows; four exhibits with large photos; and another window with a green wooden bench below it.On the floor near the back of the room, are four wooden chairs, arranged in two rows, both facing the front door. Each has a single arm rest that extends and curves out to become a wide flat panel, parallel to the floor. The two chairs have this arm rest panel on the right "arm," and the other two have it on the left "arm."An information panel, titled "Santa Rosa Island Interpretive Guide," is posted on the wall inside the School House.The panel background is a black and white photo showing twelve people on horseback, in front of a wooden fence. Behind it is a thick section of trees. In the distance, to the left, is a large hill.The text reads,Learn more about ranch history, including a complete map and guide to the ranch area, in the Santa Rosa Island Interpretive Guide.The guide also provides detailed information on island Chumash history, military history, and natural history. In addition, it serves as a trail guide for the 1.75 mile hike from the pier to Water Canyon Beach via Cherry Canyon.Borrow the guide and return it or take it home and donate at ciparkfoundation.org/join-support/.Below and to the left of this panel is a small metal box with a locked panel in front, and a slanted top with a slit in the center, about three inches wide. To the right of this box is a wall mounted plastic holder that contains the guides. This exhibit panel, titled "Channel Island Ranchos," provides cultural history about Santa Cruz Island and Santa Rosa Island.The panel background is a faded sepia photo, in shades of brown. It shows a steep, rocky shoreline, with a wooden staircase rising from the beach to the rocky plateau above. On the plateau are a large, long building, two smaller buildings, and canvas tents. The text reads:Santa Cruz Island covers almost 61,000 acres, its fertile central valley girded by rugged mountains, reaching 2,434 feet.Santa Rosa Island encompasses over 54,000 acres, of strikingly different topography - rolling grassy hills, mesas with deep-cut arroyos, and dunes that shift in the almost continuous winds.The Early Years.Humans inhabited the Channel Islands as early as 12,000 years ago. In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo found populous Chumash villages on Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel islands. The waters of the Santa Barbara Channel teemed with marine life, and the Channel Islands were regular ports of call for fur traders, hunters, and fishermen in the late eighteenth century, although most trade was illegal under both Spanish (1769 to 1821) and Mexican (1821 to 1848) rule. The sea otter population experienced a serious decline by 1820 and the seals by 1830. By 1810 the islanders, victimized by European disease and their economy disrupted, began to migrate to the mainland at the urging of Franciscan padres.

The historic schoolhouse is now home to this small visitor contact station with exhibits on the ranching history of Santa Rosa Island.

signs on walls, wood school desks and benches in small room with wood floor

Visitor Contact Station, Santa Rosa Island

Santa Rosa Island Visitor Contact Station

The visitor contact station is open 8:30 am until 5 pm daily.

Visitor Contact Station Stamp

On the valley floor, within the protection of a wide canyon is the Scorpion Ranch housing complex that consists of a two-story ranch house with a kitchen, bakery with a built-in masonry oven, dining area and two rooms upstairs for housing ranch staff. A bunkhouse and a storage shed, about the size of a garage, are also within the 5-foot-high wooden split rail fence that surrounds the compound. Gardens, shrubs and fig trees edge the buildings. The two-story, adobe Scorpion Ranch house, now the visitor center with exhibits, is tucked in close to the canyon walls and faces the open valley to the south. The ranch house was built in 1886 of rubble-wall masonry and rests on a stone and mortar foundation. The building has a rectangular plan that measures 51 feet by 18 feet. It has a shed roof and walls that are 20 inches thick and composed of local stone, adobe bricks, mortar covered with white stucco, and limestone. Windows across the face of the building provide natural light. The first floor has two main rooms, both are open to the public with exhibits and audio visual components that describe the natural and cultural history of the area. The bakery is at the west end of the building and also contains exhibits. The bunkhouse is located immediately south of the adobe ranch house. Built in 1914, this one-and-a-half story wood frame structure has a simple, gable-roof and white board-and-batten siding.

The small visitor center resides in the historic Scorpion Ranch house which was constructed in 1886-1887.

Visitor Contact Station Scorpion Ranch on Santa Cruz Island

Scorpion Ranch Visitor Center on Santa Cruz Island

Scorpion Ranch Visitor Center on Santa C

Across the trail from the power house is the visitor center. Once the historic workshop, also designed in Mission Revival style white stucco, this long rectangular building has a gable roof with terra cotta shingles. Two perpendicular gable roof sections that look like garage fronts frame the east and west ends. Four windows and three doors all with green trim and panes alternate across the front face of the building while benches line the walkway. A picnic area is directly in front of the building.<The entrance to the visitor center is on the west end and has interior exhibits, a passport station and houses the original Fresnel lens. The east end of the building is now a bunkhouse and storage area for staff.<Outside on the east corner is a welcome kiosk and the main trailhead. Take a short path behind the west end of the building to access the pit toilets.

Once the historic Coast Guard general services building (workshop and garage), this Mission Revival style building now serves as a small visitor center that features include displays on the natural and cultural resources of the island and the original lead-crystal Fresnel lens from the Anacapa Lighthouse.

White building with red tile roof. Visitors standing in front of building.

Anacapa Island Visitor Center

Visitor Center Anacapa Island

Visitor Contact Station Anacapa Island

Channel Islands National Park encompasses five remarkable islands and their ocean environment, preserving and protecting a wealth of natural and cultural resources. Isolation over thousands of years has created unique animals, plants, and archeological resources found nowhere else on Earth and helped preserve a place where visitors can experience coastal southern California as it once was.