Santa Catalina Island Map

Description: This map shows towns, streets, roads, trails, ferry routes, rivers, lakes, peaks, beaches, and parks on Santa Catalina Island.

Santa Catalina Island is an island located in the Gulf of Catalina, approximately 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Los Angeles, California. It is part of Los Angeles County and belongs to the Channel Islands archipelago of Southern California.

The island covers an area of about 75 square miles (194 km²). Its permanent population is approximately 3,700 people, almost all of whom reside in the city of Avalon, the only incorporated municipality on the island. A smaller unincorporated community, Two Harbors, is situated at the island's narrow isthmus.

The island was originally inhabited by the Tongva (also known as Gabrielino) people. Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo arrived in 1542, and in 1602 Sebastián Vizcaíno gave the island its current name in honor of Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

In 1919, William Wrigley Jr., the chewing gum magnate, purchased a controlling interest in the island and financed significant development, including the construction of the Catalina Casino in 1929 — a large circular building used as a ballroom and movie theater, never as a gambling establishment. Today, approximately 88% of the island's land is owned and managed by the Catalina Island Conservancy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conservation and ecological restoration. A small herd of American bison has roamed the island since 1924, when several animals were brought there for a film production and never removed.

The island's economy is based primarily on tourism. Visitors arrive mainly by ferry from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Main sights on Santa Catalina Island