Spooky season is here, and while trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, visiting a haunted house, or catching a Halloween parade are classic ways to celebrate, some travelers might be looking for a different kind of fright.
About 300 miles from L.A., a real-life ghost town in the eastern Sierra offers the perfect mix of eerie atmosphere, Gold Rush history, and dramatic high-desert scenery. So much so that Condé Nast Traveler included Bodie among its five most underrated Halloween towns in America.
An abandoned Gold Rush town frozen in time
Located inside Bodie State Historic Park, approximately seven miles south of Bridgeport, Bodie is a former mining town that has been preserved in a state of “arrested decay,” allowing its weathered buildings to tell their own stories.
According to Condé Nast Traveler, the road into town winds past a lonely cemetery before reaching the remains of a once-lawless settlement that was home to around 10,000 people and nearly 60 saloons.
Visitors can wander its dusty streets and peer through the windows of abandoned homes, hotels, shops, a church, and a schoolhouse, many of which retain their early-20th-century appearance. The California State Parks website also highlights the preserved interiors and artifacts that offer a glimpse into everyday life during the mining boom.
For an even spookier experience, visitors can book an expert-led historical tour or a ghost tour to find out about local legends, including Rosa May (a woman reportedly buried outside the cemetery fence) and stories of unexplained footsteps and sudden cold spots.
Bodie is the first destination featured in Condé Nast Traveler’s list of five underrated Halloween towns across the country. The complete selection includes:
- Bodie, California
- Sleepy Hollow, New York
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Terlingua, Texas
- Virginia City, Montana
From a Gold Rush boomtown to an abandoned relic
Bodie’s story began in 1859, when prospector William S. Bodey discovered gold in the hills near Mono Lake. The settlement remained relatively small until a major mineral discovery in 1876 sparked a rush of miners and fortune-seekers. By 1879, the town had grown into a bustling community with thousands of residents, hundreds of buildings, businesses, churches, and a reputation for violence and lawlessness.
As mining opportunities elsewhere attracted residents and the local industry declined, Bodie gradually emptied. Mining continued into the 20th century, but the town never recovered its former prominence. California established Bodie State Historic Park in 1962 to preserve its remarkable remains.
