If you’ve seen High Plains Drifter or any other classic American west movie town, you’ll swear it was Bodie. A former gold-mining town, Bodie was founded in 1859, and by the late 1870s was a bustling Old West outpost of a few thousand. It was hit by a couple of devastating fires and abandoned by the 1940s. It’s now the classic Old West ghost town and a state park where you can explore the history of the American West. The California State Parks maintain Bodie in a state of “arrested decay;” preserving the remaining buildings in their state from the 1880s, but not restoring them.
The ghost town is atmospheric weathered wooden buildings in the high dessert. This is THE best ghost town in the world.
Hours
- Summer (April 15th to November 3rd ): 9am – 6pm
- Winter (November 4th to April 15th): 9am – 4pm