T Cross K Ranch - Mission Creek Preserve - California
Explor Date: February 20 of 2021
If you lived in Southern California during the 1930s and were looking for a get-a-way retreat where you could be “just plain lazy,” The T Cross K Guest Ranch would have been perfect. Especially if you enjoyed home cooking and BBQ. Rates were reasonable, $5 per day or $30 per week, per person. Throw in horseback riding, hunting, pack trips, tennis, dancing and hiking….I would have so been there. A large ranch house and around a dozen cabins provided the lodging, and there was even a swimming pool. Mission Creek runs right through the property and generally flows year-round, with varying degrees of low-to-high water depending on the season.
1937 L.A. Times Advertisement
Of course, nothing so wonderful lasts forever. The Ranch has an intriguing history, and if you’d like to delve into it further, check this link on The Desert Way with Jaylyn and John’s website for an in-depth history. A terrible fire in 1960 burned most of the ranch to the ground, leaving only the walls of the stone cabins and the beautiful stone fireplace from the main ranch house and dining room.
I spent a few hours on a Sunday afternoon wandering about the site and definitely recommend a visit. The ranch ruins are located on the Mission Creek Preserve, which I believe is owned/managed by The Wildlands Conservancy. It’s easy to find and the ruins are only a couple minutes away from the parking area.
Following are some of the beautiful sights available, for free, there’s no fee to enter :-)
The four stone cabin ruins. After the fire in 1960, only the walls were left standing.
The Swimming Pool
It may not look all that exciting, but I’ll bet on a desert hot summer day, it was a welcome spot on the ranch. Maybe 3-1/2 feet deep.
Right next to the pool, a fountain. Behind that bush is a small pedestal which has the remains of a fixture that must have shot water up into the air.
Heading over towards the stone fireplace, here’s a shot looking back at the pool, the twin palms and the cabins.
Here are the cabins from another angle. All the space in front of them once sported a beautiful, stone-circled cactus garden.
How the cabins and cactus garden looked in this vintage, 1937 Frashers Fotos postcard.
So, back to the stone fireplace I mentioned earlier. I didn’t think about trying to gauge its height while physically in front of if, but would guess it stands about 15-feet tall. It’s a massive thing with beautiful stones, perhaps taken out of nearby Mission Creek. This was the centerpiece of the guest ranch Dining Hall. It would have been able to have a massive blaze, enough to keep the room warm during the coldest winter. Click on the image at the right to get a better view.
Another Frashers Fotos postcard from 1937.
There are remnants all around the cabins and fireplace of stonework; some as fancy as this (perhaps an outdoor firepit?), but also many created with stones to ring different plants and also to line the main road and several of the pathways that led from one area to another. By the way, that snow-capped peak in the upper right corner is Mt. San Gorgonio, the highest peak in Southern California. All of 11,499 feet above sea-level.
An inside view of one of the cabins. Each has been fitted with a nice picnic table and a well-made slated roof, which provides a nice amount of shade.
The Moon!
It’s hard to pass by the opportunity to use a window to frame a subject out in the beyond.
After wandering around the cabin area for quite a spell, it was time to head towards Mission Creek, to see what I could find. As it turned out, well-worth the wandering.
The flow of Mission Creek can vary dramatically with the weather. It had been quite a while since the last rains, but the snow up on Mt. San Gorgonio and the surrounding mountains provided a nice sized creek. The size of the wash that holds Mission Creek, and some of the high banks is evidence that this little creek can sometimes become a raging river. Think Banner/Hulk.
Island in the creek. Check out the height of the banks on the left. The banks on the right were twice as high.
There were a few very small trash dump areas, all near or in the large wash. Either someone has cleaned the area up, or folks have collected souvenirs, or the creek has washed them away over the years. In any case, there was enough to keep me occupied for quite a while.
Hill and Hill embossed bottle, only this top half was intact.
The Edwin M. Knowles China Company dates back to 1900. It was located in Chester, West Virginia. They made fine china dinnerware up until about 1960, when the influx of cheaper imports forced them to close their doors. This broken piece of china was most likely part of the dinner ware used to serve guests for many years in the dining hall.
There always seems to be a seltzer bottle everywhere.
This is a chunk of the foundation from the Dining Hall. After it burned to the ground, the debris that was left was hauled over to the wash and dumped down the banks. It’s kind of hard to make out, the the letters chiseled into the cement are TxK, the brand of the T Cross K Ranch, which at one time did run cattle. I was lucky to find this. I had searched for it in what appeared to be the logical location, but without any luck. Later in the day, there it was, a distance from where I thought it should have been.
One of many areas encircled with rock borders. The owners of the T Cross K Guest Ranch obviously loved their resort.
Definitely worth a visit, I’m glad I learned about it and had the chance to see it.
Farther up the canyon, the road leads to a large stone house which is also a remnant of the dude ranch days. It is generally open and features maps and interpretive displays. A picnic area is also available, along with restrooms. Camping is permitted nearby via an online reservation system, check with The Wildlands Conservancy website for information.
Now it was time to head to JTNP, for a short hike off the Boy Scout trailhead.
Thanks for tagging along on my trip!
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