Rancho Camulos Museum is a 40-acre National Historic Landmark situated within an 1,800-acre working ranch near the town of Piru, approximately 30 miles west of Santa Clarita along Highway 126. While not located within the Santa Clarita city limits, Rancho Camulos is deeply connected to the broader valley's rancho-era history. The property preserves one of the finest collections of original 19th-century California rancho buildings in the state, including two adobe homes, a chapel, a winery building, and agricultural structures dating to the Mexican and early American periods. The rancho played a role in Helen Hunt Jackson's 1884 novel Ramona, which romanticized California's rancho era and drew national attention to the region. Today, the museum offers guided tours that explore the property's architecture, agriculture, and cultural significance within the context of Southern California's transformation from Mexican territory to American state. For Santa Clarita residents and visitors, Rancho Camulos provides an accessible day trip that deepens understanding of the rancho era that preceded the railroad, oil, and film industries in the valley.