George Key Ranch Historic Park

I love this place. We had our wedding booked at a place in huntington, but when we randomly went to check this place out we fell in love and moved it here instead. The people working there were so nice and so helpful (Especially Bradley) and accommodating and the price was so reasonable. I recommend them all the time and look forward to continuing to visit this special place.
The only con is not being able to stay here into the night. You can work it out if you have a large budget for lighting though, and you will have to get some approval to do that. So just be ready if you want to be there into the night.

Wow I guess this is really a hidden gem. No listing on Unilocal and George Key Ranch has only been on the National List of Historic Places since 1975. One day I was driving by and I notice a small green patch on my GPS, which means park. Every time I would drive by Bastanchury and Placentia I would notice this on the GPS but see nothing. One day I got curious and decided to find out what this green patch is all about. I parked next to this high wall surrounding an old house and huge trees (on Gilman Circle). I found an open gate and peeked inside, feeling like I was about to trespass on some private property. I see lots of old rusted plows, farm tools, and a wagon displayed in a small courtyard. There are numbers next to them, like you would see in a museum. But nobody around. The OC Parks logo is on a posted sign, so I figure I’ll walk around until I’m asked to leave.
There’s a large woodshed that I can tell has been turned into an office. Somebody is here, but the office is empty. There are public bathrooms and a large picnic area under an old tree, with a large hanging metal dinner triangle. You know the kind, that you see in western movies with some one yelling «Come and Get It» as they rattle a dinner spoon inside of it. I journey alone a few steps more and see a whole bunch of orange trees all set up with an old style ditch irrigation system. They are absolutely covered in Valencia oranges. These are some old trees and there are an acre of them. Mixed in with them are some more old rusted farm tools all marked with numbers. As I get to the end of them, I start to see some signs of the present. It’s clear that people do work in this field from time to time and pick them.
There’s a little parking lot at the bottom, but the entrance is gated off from the main road. I follow what would have been the owner’s driveway back to the house. Beautiful large trees creating a natural hammock of shade 50 to 100 feet overhead. Man would this have been an impressive way for your guests to arrive. I pass an old Ford truck most likely from the 1940’s. It’s paint is all oxidized green and rusted. It’s not clear if this has been abandoned here or on display. The windshield is cracked, but it’s still interesting to look at. To my left are some wonderful gardens with paths that seem to wind around from bench to bench. Still nobody is in sight and again I feel like I’m trespassing on someone’s home from a hundred years ago. As the sunlight peeks through the tall trees, I can’t help but think this would be the perfect place to quietly read a book as the wind rustles the branches overhead. This area has been allowed to go naturally wild, but only vertically as the paths are nicely maintained. Mixed in with the flora are notecards with little philosophical thoughts written on them. Maybe it’s a little over the top as I kept expecting to see each one signed «by Jack Handy».
I work my way back to the house when coming outside is a park ranger in full green uniform. She seems just as surprised to see me as I her. She invites me inside the house for a one on one tour. Telling me about the history of the orange groves here (used to be 20 acres before sold off for housing.) The 2 story house itself is interesting as well. Built from 1898 to 1908, it offers a glimpse of how people lived back then. George Key’s son lived in this house up until 1989, then left it to the county as a way to preserve the Orange Grove history of Orange County.
The ranger then asked me if I wanted to pick some oranges and found a bag. Fruit trees in public parks can be picked by anyone. If you like making fresh squeezed OJ, this place is awesome! Nobody seems to know about it. I’ve been back many times and have always had the place to myself. Sometimes I see a park ranger and other times I don’t bump into them at all, even though they are always present. Now here’s why I’m guessing nobody has written about George Key Ranch on Unilocal… until me. Their hours… Tuesday through Friday from 12:15 pm to 4:30 pm. And the 1^st Saturday each month from 12:15 to 4:30. So if you want to glimpse into the past, the time travel window is very small. Call ahead to set up a house tour, no guarantee you’ll get lucky like me. Tours are a $ 2 donation. But they do a free house tour at 2pm on that 1^st Saturday of the month. Just give ‘em the $ 2, since you are going to most likely walk out of there with $ 20 worth of Oranges.