Bodie Ghost Town – Bridgeport, CA

Bodie Ghost Town is an incredibly preserved old gold-mining town built starting around 1875. Nearly 10,000 people once lived there, mostly in the middle of nowhere, now sitting about 12 miles south of Bridgeport. The road to get there winds through a beautifully rocky terrain on a paved road for a good 10 miles and the last bit is on a gravel road.

We drove from our hotel in Bishop all the way up to Bodie (about a 2 hour drive one way) and when we got to the Ranger Station they informed us that their credit card processor was out and we were going to be S-O-L if we didn’t have cash.

PRO-TIP: TAKE CASH WITH YOU TO REMOTE BODIE HISTORIC NATIONAL PARK. hahaha

The kind ranger offered to “try again” with my debit card since he never even tried it in the first place and it miraculously worked. (Admission is $8/adults, $5/kids.) ONWARD.

The first thing I noticed about the park is that it is gigantic! I had no idea there would be so many buildings and so much to explore. So many of the buildings look perfectly preserved as if the habitants had only vacated a few weeks before, but were living with really old-timesy things.

It’s totally worth the trip out there, make it happen!