Scorpion Ranch Visitor Center on Santa Cruz Island

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

Per the National Park Service, as of 2026-08-04

Per the National Park Service, as of 2026-08-04

This visitor center can only be visited by boat. Book your transportation with the park concessioner.

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.

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