Wow! I had been wanting to visit Bodie the Ghost Town ever since I learned about it early into our Eastern Sierra PawCations! Bodie, CA was once a bustling gold mining town founded in 1876 near the California / Nevada border after Mr. William Bodey
found gold nearby in 1859. At one point approximately 10,000 people lived in Bodie before 1880! In 1917 the town of Bodie was completely abandoned and is now “preserved” by the California State Parks as Bodie State Historic Park.
It was a dusty, bumpy, long and winding dirt road from the north (back) entry from Bridgeport but sooooooo worth it! The views were amazing! Mountain and valley views, wildflowers, wide open spaces…but, I’m not gonna lie, had it not been for a few other crazy people on that dirt road I would’ve thought we had taken a severely wrong turn and would never end up in Bodie! Now, knowing it is truly the scenic route to Bodie, I’d really love to take that drive again and take a little more time exploring!
If you decide to head to Bodie from Bridgeport here’s some key tips:
- Make sure you go to the restroom before leaving Bridgeport if you are taking the north dirt road route! The drive is pretty bumpy and slow! (The Southern entry near Mono Lake is much quicker and easier on your car). There are nice restrooms once you get to Bodie!
- It’s HOT, DRY and DUSTY (and sometimes hot wind) in Bodie! There are water fountains at the entrance but if you plan to walk the whole town it’s a good idea to carry your own water and a bowl for your pet to drink. Scooby loaned out his bowl several times to unprepared Pawrents!
- Plan a Picnic! Pretty much everyone in the parking lot had a picnic in back of their car! So, of course we did too! Even if you don’t want to picnic at Bodie, it’s best to have water (and snacks) in the car for you and your pups because it’s really easy to spend lots of time meandering through Bodie!
- Fill up your gas tank – there’s no gas station at Bodie! You’ll need to get yourself to Bodie and back to the 395 highway and a bit further before you reach a gas station.
- Have good tires, a reliable car and taller clearance (we did see sedans and subaru’s so it’s possible) if you’re going to take the north Bridgeport entry. There’s a whole bunch of beautiful nothing and sometimes nobody!
Exiting Bodie is much more flat and civilized and you will be gifted with the beautiful view of Mono Lake on your way back to the highway. Bodie is definitely work a half day trip if you get time to visit while in the Eastern Sierra. We WUVED Bodie so much it even got it’s own destination page in our blog! If not, Hop on in with us and get your private tour with Scooby and Becky on theScoobylife Youtube Channel!
XOXO,
Mom