Ventura County is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura.
The Central Coast is an area of California, roughly spanning the coastal region between Point Mugu and Monterey Bay. It lies northwest of Los Angeles and south of the San Francisco Bay Area, and includes the rugged, rural, and sparsely populated stretch of coastline known as Big Sur.
Anacapa Island is a small volcanic island located about 11 miles off Port Hueneme in Ventura County, California. The island is composed of a series of narrow islets 6 mi (10 km) long, oriented generally east–west and 5 mi (8 km) east of Santa Cruz Island. The three main islets, East, Middle and West Anacapa, have precipitous cliffs, dropping off steeply into the sea.
The Channel Islands are an eight-island archipelago located within the Southern California Bight in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. They define the Santa Barbara Channel between the islands and the California mainland. The four Northern Channel Islands are part of the Transverse Ranges geologic province, and the four Southern Channel Islands are part of the Peninsular Ranges province. Five of the islands are within the Channel Islands National Park. The waters surrounding these islands make up Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. The Nature Conservancy was instrumental in establishing the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.
San Nicolas Island is the most remote of the Channel Islands, off of Southern California, 61 miles (98 km) from the nearest point on the mainland coast. It is part of Ventura County. The 14,562 acre island is currently controlled by the United States Navy and is used as a weapons testing and training facility, served by Naval Outlying Landing Field San Nicolas Island. The uninhabited island is defined by the United States Census Bureau as Block Group 9, Census Tract 36.04 of Ventura County, California. The Nicoleño Native American tribe inhabited the island until 1835. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the island has since remained officially uninhabited, though the census estimates that at least 200 military and civilian personnel live on the island at any given time. The island has a small airport, though the 10,000 foot (3,000 m) runway is the second longest in Ventura County. Additionally, there are several buildings including telemetry reception antennas.
Año Nuevo State Park is a state park of California, United States, encompassing Año Nuevo Island and Año Nuevo Point, which are known for their pinniped rookeries. Located in San Mateo County, the low, rocky, windswept point juts out into the Pacific Ocean about 55 miles (89 km) south of San Francisco and the Golden Gate. Año Nuevo State Natural Reserve, formerly a separate unit of the California state park system, was merged into Año Nuevo State Park in October 2008. The coastal geographic center, or coastal-midpoint of California is located at the northern end of this park at 37°09′58″N122°21′40″W, as the absolute geographic center of California falls at 37°09′58″N119°26′58″W.
Santa Cruz Island is located off the southwestern coast of Ventura, California, United States. It is the largest island in California and largest of the eight islands in the Channel Islands archipelago and Channel Islands National Park. Forming part of the northern group of the Channel Islands, Santa Cruz is 22 miles (35 km) long and 2 to 6 miles wide with an area of 61,764.6 acres (249.952 km2).
Santa Barbara Island is a small island of the Channel Islands archipelago in Southern California. It is protected within Channel Islands National Park, and its marine ecosystem is part of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Public passenger access to Santa Barbara Island is provided by the Island Packers ferry service.
The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Kern counties. The Peninsular Ranges lie to the south. The name is due to the ranges' east–west orientation, making them transverse to the general northwest–southeast orientation of most of California's coastal mountains.
California's 24th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California. The district is currently represented by Salud Carbajal. It contains all of Santa Barbara County, most of San Luis Obispo County, and part of Ventura County. Cities in the district include Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, and Ojai.
New Cuyama is a census-designated place in the Cuyama Valley, Santa Barbara County, California. It was named after the Chumash word for "clams", most likely due to the millions of petrified prehistoric clamshell fossils that are found in the surrounding areas. The town is home to the majority of the utility infrastructure for its residents, including nearby neighbor Cuyama, California. New Cuyama is located very close to the intersection points for Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Ventura and Kern counties. The town is served by Highway 166 and the public-use New Cuyama Airport. The population was 542 at the 2020 census.
Rancho Dos Pueblos was a 15,535-acre (62.87 km2) Mexican land grant in present day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Nicolas A. Den. The rancho stretched along the Gaviota Coast to the northwest of today's city of Santa Barbara, from Fairview Avenue in Goleta to the southeastern boundary of today's El Capitan State Beach. A 500-acre parcel (200 ha) was bought by Colin Powys Campbell in 1919. The University of California, Santa Barbara purchased it from the Devereux Foundation in 2007, following the closure of the campus it had established there in 1945.
Rancho San Marcos was a 35,573-acre (143.96 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pio Pico to Nicolas A. Den and Richard S. Den. The grant in the Santa Ynez Valley extended between the San Rafael Mountains and the Santa Ynez River.
Rancho Santa Paula y Saticoy was a 17,773-acre (71.92 km2) Mexican land grant in the Santa Clara River Valley, in present-day Ventura County, California, and granted in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Manuel Jimeno Casarin. The rancho lands include the modern communities of Saticoy and Santa Paula along the Santa Clara River.
Rancho Las Positas y La Calera was a 3,282-acre (13.28 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California. The grant consisted of two parts:- "La Calera" given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Narciso Fabregat, and "Las Positas" given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Thomas M. Robbins. The grant was the northwest of the pueblo and Presidio of Santa Barbara, and encompassed the present day Hope Ranch, Hidden Valley, and Campanil neighborhoods.
Goleta Point is a small peninsula at the southern end of the Gaviota Coast on the central coast in the U.S. state of California. It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of the city of Goleta. Situated within the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), it is characterized by a beach cliff, crashing waves, and a view of the Channel Islands across the Santa Barbara Channel. The rock formation is frequented by shorebirds.
Rancho La Goleta was a 4,426-acre (17.91 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Daniel A. Hill. The grant extended along the Pacific coast from today’s Fairview Avenue in present-day Goleta, east to Hope Ranch. The grant was adjacent to Rancho Dos Pueblos granted to his son-in-law Nicolas A. Den in 1842.
Rancho El Rio de Santa Clara o la Colonia was a 44,883-acre (181.64 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Ventura County, California, given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to seven people. The grant extended from the Santa Clara River south to the present-day Point Mugu Naval Air Station, and the boundary of Rancho Guadalasca, and east from the Pacific Ocean to the present-day 101 Freeway, and the boundary of Rancho Santa Clara del Norte. The grant encompassed much of the Oxnard Plain.
Mugu Lagoon is a salt marsh located within the Naval Base Ventura County at the foot of the Santa Monica Mountains in Ventura County, California. The lagoon extends for 4.3 miles parallel to a narrow barrier beach. The first European to come ashore here was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo on October 10, 1542. Cabrillo was the first European to visit present-day California, and he named the lagoon Mugu after Muwu, which is Chumash meaning "beach" or "seashore". When the Europeans first discovered the lagoon, it functioned as the capital village of the Chumash Indians settled around Point Mugu.
