Black Bear Ranch is an 80-acre intentional community located in Siskiyou County, California, about 25 miles from Forks of Salmon.

[3] The commune's legal ownership was held by one resident, Richard Marley,[4] until in 1987 it was transferred to the Black Bear Family Trust,[1] which limits development of the property and established trustees to oversee various specified duties.

[5] According to the historian Timothy Miller, the community bought the property for $22,500 using money from a variety of sources including from supporters in the entertainment industry, as well as "one large unexpected angelic gift" and the "proceeds from a major LSD deal".

So we founded the Black Bear Get-With-It Party, and we wrote a credo and went and nailed it up like Martin Luther on the door of the main house.

Never mind smoking dope, you know—get to work.Miller also records how "a strong sense of community" including ritual peyote use led to a variety of social experiments being conducted including the abolishing of private property and also the institution of a rule to prevent "coupling," which banned anyone from sleeping with the same partner for more than two consecutive nights,[3] although this had disastrous consequences after a venereal disease spread amongst the community.

The New York Sun describes them as a "nomadic cult of acid-taking, baby-worshiping hippies looking for the perfect place to bring up children"[6] and they were led by a man called Gridley Wright.

[1] Life at the ranch continues on, with similar struggles about what communal living means as took place during the early days.