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Start at 1. Welcome to Scorpion Anchorage

Start at the trailhead. Each story plays as you reach its place on the trail.

Free audio tour6 stories

Cavern Point Loop, Channel Islands National Park, California

A narrated walk on Santa Cruz Island from the Scorpion Anchorage landing past the 1880s Scorpion Ranch, up the canyon to the cliffs at Cavern Point and back along the bluff: ranch life, the island fox's comeback, chert and Chumash shell-bead money, seabirds and sea caves, and a sea that kept the island apart.

12 min of audio · 2 miles · Read the transcript

Your route

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Tap a stop to hear its story. Reference route. Outline markers are optional stories.

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    Getting started

    1. Start in the right placeThis tour begins at Welcome to Scorpion Anchorage. Start at the trailhead; the first story plays when you arrive.
    2. Let's hear itUse headphones or the phone speaker at a comfortable volume. Download the tour while you still have signal.
    3. Stories meet you thereYour phone's location starts each story automatically. Music flows straight into the narration. Keep this page open; it keeps the screen awake for GPS.
    4. You're ready to exploreSanta Cruz Island is reached only by boat: the park concessioner, Island Packers, sails year-round from Ventura Harbor and Channel Islands Harbor; book ahead. There's no entrance fee, no reliable cell service and no food or shops on the island, so download this tour on the mainland and bring water. Press Start where the boat lands at Scorpion Anchorage and put your phone away. The loop is about two miles with one steady climb; stay back from the cliff edges and be back for your boat's departure time.

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    Facts from the National Park Service (the park's Cavern Point self-guided trail stops, the Eastern Santa Cruz Island Interpretive Guide, the Hiking Eastern Santa Cruz Island guide, and the island fox, island scrub-jay, Scorpion Ranch house and visitor-information pages). Trail geometry © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Music: Ravel, Daphnis et Chloé (excerpt), Concert Band of the United States Air Force Band (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons). Narration is AI-generated. Not an official National Park Service product.