Joshua Tree National Park is an enchanting place full of incredible vistas and the celebrated Joshua tree. Keys Ranch, located deep within the park, represents the life of its builder—a rugged individual who chose to raise his family where few others dared even to visit.

The site’s ranch house, schoolhouse, orchard, car yard, and other surrounding structures tell the colorful story of the 60 years the Keys family spent working to make a life in the unforgiving conditions of the Mojave Desert. The property is significant as an expression of farming, mining, and homesteading patterns particular to this desert region.

The Keys Ranch serves as an outdoor classroom and exhibit for visitors and researchers, but the site has suffered from wear and tear because of the harsh desert conditions as well as a lack of funding.

Joshua Tree National Park participated in Partners in Preservation: National Parks.