Administered by UC Riverside since 1959, the Center's research area is protected from public access, and managed for university level research and teaching.
Access is through three locked gates and is by permission only.
The massive Deep Canyon floodplain extends into the Coachella Valley, which is a northern extension of the Salton Sink, the largest contiguous area below sea level in the Western Hemisphere. Within commuting distance of Boyd Center are a variety of research opportunities in varied ecosystems which include aeolian sand dune systems in three Coachella Valley Preserves, Mojave Desert systems in Joshua Tree National Monument and chaparral, pinyon-juniper and Jeffrey pine forests in the San Bernardino National Forest. The Research Area encompasses Lower Sonoran and Upper Sonoran life zones that link the flora and fauna of the Colorado Desert and the Peninsular Mountain Range. These mountains form a rain shadow barrier between coastal southern California and the inland deserts. The climate is characterized by hot summers, scant and erratic rainfall and strong vernal winds.