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The Darwin Ranch is a private, very isolated 160-acre inholding in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in the southeast corner of Teton County, Wyoming. It is located in an alpine river valley adjoining the Gros Ventre Wilderness near the headwaters of the three major rivers that drain the western part of the United States. The Darwin Ranch consists of 15 buildings and 9 structures, all hand-constructed with logs, that are a combination of historic and a few modern structures designed to match the original buildings. Buildings on the site include the main lodge, guest cabins, and working ranch outbuildings. The site is surrounded by pine-tree covered mountains, with Kinky Creek and the Gros Ventre River winding through the property.

The Darwin Ranch property is significant under Criterion A for its representation of historic events related to Commerce and Settlement. As a homestead property, the ranch is an excellent example of early settlement in the American West. Early ranch residents supplemented their income in order to maintain the place with trapping in the surrounding mountains; an important form of early white settlement. The Darwin Ranch has more recently been sustained, though, as a guest or “dude” ranch, also an important commerce example. Guest ranches have long been a popular form of recreation. In the case of the Darwin Ranch, recreation is also extended to the use of the property by wealthy families for private seasonal enjoyment. Both uses of the ranch, as a commercial guest ranch and for private use, are important examples of how the commercial landscape of Teton County and other scenic areas in Wyoming developed to modern day. The Darwin Ranch is also significant under Criterion C for its excellent example of Western Craftsman Architecture. The buildings and structures, both historic and more modern, maintain a high level of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association for this unique western architecture. The combined western architecture with the traditional use of commerce from the settlement homestead era, create an excellent example of a significant historic property.