History of Bodie

The tiny town of Bodie lies east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in one of the most desolate regions of California. Bodie has been left abandoned for the last 75 years but remains perfectly preserved with homes, stores and even a school house filled with personal belongings.

Gold was discovered in Bodie in 1859 by W. S. Bodey who perished shortly after the discovery in a blizzard while carrying supplies into town. At its peak, 65 saloons lined Main Street, which was a mile long. Murders, shootouts, barroom brawls, and stagecoach holdups were regular occurrences in the wild west country.

While the church is the most prominent standing building, a secret red light district operated at the north end of town. What was once a booming mining town slowly declined into a desolate ghost town with the last of the population leaving in 1942.

Insider Tips for Those Traveling to Bodie

Extreme Weather

Although in our photos the weather appears to be sunny and pleasant, it was actually frigidly cold. The temperature was easily in the 30’s (degrees Fahrenheit) and we had to retreat to our car several time to warm up. If you are visiting Bodie in the winter, come prepared with very warm clothing.

Rough Terrain

While driving into the Bodie National Park, there’s a long stretch of road that is not paved and has very uneven terrain with large pot holes and boulder-like rocks. I recommend driving a car with 4-wheel drive and going very slowly with caution. If there’s snow or ice on the ground, you’ll especially need chains or a car without 4-wheel drive.

Bring Cash

As desolate of a place that Bodie is, there are still park rangers that will give you a ticket if you don’t pay the entrance fee. I think we paid around $8 for our car. At the entrance you tear off a slip to put on your windshield, and then insert your money into an envelop and drop it inside a locked dropbox.

Appropriate Footwear

As you can imagine, the roads and walking paths in Bodie have been mostly eroded away by the high winds and harsh weather. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes that both protect your feet and allow you to walk around for a couple hours. Bodie is very spread out and it takes a considerable number of steps to explore all of it.

Come Prepared

When you’re driving into Bodie, you will be passing through some very isolated areas of the Sierras and there will be very few opportunities to stop and get gas, food or water. Make sure you have everything you need before you begin driving. There is a small gift shop in Bodie that has a very limited selection of items for sale.

Scroll to the bottom of the blog post to see the best hotels closest to Bodie!

The Curse of Bodie

Rumblings of the Bodie curse began in the 1970's when tourists began reporting unexplained incidences after taking home artifacts as souvenirs from the town. As I mentioned before, the ghost town of Bodie is full of all sorts of belongings left behind by the miners and their families. Inside the homes the art still hangs on the walls, clothing is hung inside the closets and dishes sit on the dining tables. It's as if the entire town population just vanished and never took any of their belongings. So many citizens came to a tragic death in Bodie, both from unfortunate run-ins with violent criminals and harsh weather conditions. There are documented stories of suicides, murders and eerie coincidences.

My husband and I had our own series of unfortunate events directly following our visit to Bodie which we had dubbed "the curse" before we even knew it was a real phenomenon. The next morning after our visit to Bodie we awoke to our car completely buried in unseasonal snow. As we grabbed our boots and headed outside to begin shoveling, we left the door to our cabin unlocked. But when we returned it had somehow locked itself, leaving us stranded outside in the snow. It took over an hour for the managers to get the door open because the master key had gone missing.

After digging out our car, we learned that all the major roads had either closed or required chains on your tires. While preparing to hit the road on a search for tire chains, our car unexplainably locked itself with the keys inside. After another hour of waiting for AAA to arrive, the car magically unlocked itself and we were able to get inside. Finding chains for our car was another fiasco because the entire town had sold out. Long story short, we barely made it out of Bridgeport in one piece as the drive home was rough and very icy.