California's most notorious gold-mining town, Bodie attracted miners, gamblers, prostitutes and hotel operators. Now it is the best-preserved ghost town in the West. This State historic park is located in a genuine California gold-mining ghost town. It is a historical monument. The landscape includes hills; mountain; deserts and barren land.
Site Condition
Bodie State Historic Park is a genuine California gold-mining ghost town. Visitors can walk down the deserted streets of a town that once had a population of nearly 10,000 people. The town is named for Waterman S. Body (William Bodey), who had discovered small amounts of gold in hills north of Mono Lake. In 1875, a mine cave-in revealed pay dirt, which led to purchase of the mine by the Standard Company in 1877. People flocked to Bodie and transformed it from a town of a few dozen to a boomtown.
Only a small part of the town survives, preserved in a state of "arrested decay." Interiors remain as they were left and stocked with goods. Designated as a National Historic Site and a State Historic Park in 1962, the remains of Bodie are being preserved in a state of "arrested decay".
General Notes
updated 7.18.24 bd / 4.11.25 bd / 10.7.25 bd
Usage Restriction
Parks is responsible for the care and protection of cultural resources located on lands the agency manages, and investigation of these vulnerable resources requires compliance with state and federal environmental protection laws. Applications outside of well-defined academic research objectives will require cultural resource specialist approval and is subject to Parks’ discretion.”
Open year around.
9 am to 6 pm in summer;
10 am to 3 pm in winter or as posted.
Museum open daily during summer.
The park is closed during periods of inclement weather.
CLOSURE HOURS ARE STRICTLY ENFORCED FOR THE PROTECTION OF STRUCTURES AND ARTIFACTS.
Location Categories
CEMETERIES / FUNERAL - Chapel / Church CITIES, TOWNS & PUBLIC SPACES - Historic Districts CITIES, TOWNS & PUBLIC SPACES - Western / Mining / Ghost Towns GOVERNMENTAL - Prisons & Jails INSTITUTIONAL - Churches NATURAL LANDSCAPES / PARKS - Deserts / Barren Lands NATURAL LANDSCAPES / PARKS - State Parks
Within 30-Mile Studio Zone
No
Location
Bodie Rd, 13 miles off Hwy 395, 6 miles south of Bridgeport
Lee Vining, California, United States
(760) 647-6445
Location Email