{"nrhp_refnum":"03001062","name":"Drakesbad Guest Ranch","other_names":["Drake's Baths","Drakesbad Resort","Hot Springs Valley"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Head of Warner Creek Valley, Lassen Volcanic National Park","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chester","county":"Plumas County","state":"CA","lat":40.43939250270279,"lon":-121.418643605039,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-10-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Conservation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of 440 acres of former private land at the head of the Hot Springs Creek valley, now within Lassen Volcanic National Park near Chester, Plumas County, California. It is a summer guest ranch with lodge, cottages, meadow, trails and thermal features, developed from Edward Drake's homestead and the Sifford family's resort from 1900.","why_significant":"The nomination presents Drakesbad as a historic vernacular landscape that has served as a summer resort for over a century. It reflects the Sifford family's development of a hot-springs, trail-ride and guest-ranch operation, and its spatial organization, land use, circulation and setting remain largely intact. Its history is also tied to the creation of Lassen Volcanic National Park and the national park idea.","narrative":"Drakesbad Guest Ranch is a summer resort in the Hot Springs Creek valley, inside Lassen Volcanic National Park in Plumas County, California. Edward Drake homesteaded the land and began a small hotel and bathhouse, and in 1900 Alex and Ida Sifford bought the property. The family expanded it into a full guest ranch, adding a plunge bath, tent cabins that were later partly replaced by frame cottages and duplexes, a kitchen and dining hall, a hay barn and a string of saddle horses. They drained and improved the wet ground into a meadow, built trails to thermal areas such as Devil's Kitchen and Boiling Springs Lake, and created Dream Lake for fishing. The district covers 440 acres and is described as a vernacular landscape. Its layout, land use, circulation routes and natural setting remain largely unchanged, and the ranch continues to host guests, which supports its listing as a historic district.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Other: vernacular","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still operating as a summer guest ranch (current function: recreation); some agricultural uses such as hay cutting and horse pasturing have stopped.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.804464-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/03001062.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001062/d800aa6823-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001062/d800aa6823-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"LassenNPS","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drakesbad_Lodge_(8639932467).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">LassenNPS</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drakesbad_Lodge_(8639932467).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860422","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drakesbad_Guest_Ranch","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5305661"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/plumas-county/drakesbad-guest-ranch-03001062/"}