13 Ghost Towns To Explore In California: From Gold Rush To Ghosted

CALIFORNIA — There's gold and silver in them hills... at least, there was.

In the mid-1800s, thousands arrived in California to chase their dreams of wealth and prosperity. For a time, many achieved it. Still, most of California's gold and silver mines panned out in the early 1900s; only the dilapidated, empty "Ghost Towns" remained.

Now, explorers and history buffs can adventure across the Golden State to check out what was left behind and walk the streets that once were filled with promise and possibility only to be abandoned.

Patch has dug up 13 of California's most famous and a few little-known ghost towns where you can while away your vacation in the boot-steps of those who have gone before. At least one ghost town was purchased by a brave soul, who is documenting the harrowing renovation process.

Remember, whenever and wherever you go to visit these monuments of history, bring ample water, charge your cell phones, and ensure your car is off-road-ready for some locations. Also, stay out of the mines, which are considered extremely hazardous.

• Ballarat: Down a rugged dirt road, approximately 150 miles northeast of Bakersfield, sits the ghost town of Ballarat. The once-boomtown was a major supply town for area mines. Ballarat was founded in the 1890s, according to Atlas Obscura, and was emptied out by 1917. The post office, hotels, school, and saloon now sit abandoned, completely in disrepair. When you go, wander the empty streets, inspect the "Boot Hill" cemetery, and watch for burros among the local wildlife. If you go, bring ample supplies. There are campgrounds nearby, but there are no guaranteed services.

• Bodie: The ghost town of Bodie, located at Highway 270, Bridgeport, CA, was once a booming gold-rush town. It still sits in a state of arrested decay—as the California State Parks system has not restored any of Bodie's buildings or streets, but they are here for the curious to visit and enjoy. The town of Bodie was a gold-mining town once populated by 8,000 people in the late 1870s. "People flocked to Bodie and transformed it into a boomtown" until its ultimate bust in 1942, when mining officially ceased, according to the parks service website. "It looks much the same as it did when over 50 years ago, the last residents left." There are no commercial facilities here, like food or gasoline, so plan your trip accordingly.

• Calico: If you've driven from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, chances are you've noticed Calico. The Ghost Town is an old west mining town that originated in 1881, according to San Bernardino Regional Parks Service. The town that once gave miners a good living lost its hustle in the mid-1890s. Families gave up the shells of their homes and headed to points unknown. In the 1950s, Walter Knott recognized the value and restored five original buildings to their 1880s splendor. It became an official State Historic Landmark in 2005 and is known as California's Silver Rush Ghost Town. "Today, Calico is part of the San Bernardino County Regional Parks system, which is visited by people from across the country and from all over the world. Along with its history and attractions, Calico Ghost Town has shops and restaurants and offers camping, hiking, and off-roading. Due to the historic nature, not all areas are ADA accessible."

• Cerro Gordo Mines: A long abandoned silver mine on the edge of Death Valley became a dream for writer and historian Brent Underwood, who purchased the property for $1.4 million. The plan is to restore the town, preserve the past, and survive the massive renovation project. "Cerro Gordo started earlier and lasted longer than most silver mines," he said. Now, he's finding ways to make it his own. In the 1800s, it was a thriving boomtown. Now, he's lived there for four years and has over 1.7 million following his journey on YouTube. His book, "Ghost Town Living," is about his experience. It remains in the top 20 on the New York Times Bestseller List. "A long-abandoned silver mine for sale sounded like an adventure too great to pass up, but it turned into much more—a calling, a community of millions, and hard-earned lessons about chasing impractical dreams."

• Eagle Mountain: The once booming town of Eagle Mountain sits vacant, 11 miles north of Desert Center. Once Kaiser Steel Corporation's iron ore mining camp from 1947, this promising town petered out when the mine shut down in 1983. During its prime, the small community sported many amenities, which included green grassy yards, tree-lined paved streets (with sidewalks), three public schools, several churches, playgrounds, swimming pools, a recreation hall, U. S. Post Office (Zip Code 92241*), a gas station and a small shopping center. The empty buildings served as a dystopian film location, run by the Greater Palm Springs Film Office until the property was sold in 2023.

• Dublin Gulch: In the foothills near Death Valley, former residents carved out a life in Dublin Gulch, located at 118 CA-127, Shoshone, CA, just off a winding dirt road. Miners and railroad workers arrived here in the late 1800s, digging themselves cave homes in the volcanic caliche clay mounded at the foot of the mountains. The cool earth was perfect insulation, as it turned out, keeping the conditions bearable even in extreme summer and winter months, according to the Atlas Obscura website. Most dwellings here were single rooms. However, some have multiple rooms, carved-out niches, stovepipe fireplaces, and even one with a garage. Dublin Gulch is considered an "architectural oddity" and California's most unique ghost town.

• Punta Gorda Lighthouse: It's a hike, but worth the view, to visit the abandoned but renovated Punta Gorda Lighthouse. The stark white building sits just south of Cape Mendocino, on a treacherous part of California's Coastline, according to the Bureau of Land Management, which owns and maintains the property. Lighthousekeepers arrived here following a schooner crash in 1907, according to the California Light House Society. In 1912, the lighthouse first shone along the rocky coast, flashing every 15 seconds along with a foghorn. It was kept lit until 1951 when the BLM took it over. Now, only the lighthouse and a few former structures remain on what hikers call the "Lost Coast Trail." The lighthouse is part of King Range National Conservation Area, maintained by the Bureau of Land Management, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Information on day hiking to the site and backpacking the Lost Coast Trail safely is available from the BLM King Range Office at 707-986-5400.

• Colonel Allensworth Ghost Town: Located in Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, at 4011 Grant Drive, Earlimart, CA. This small collection of vibrant-restored buildings sits halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, though it remains a ghost town. It was originally established and governed by Black Americans in 1908 and is now a California State Park. The buildings have been reconstructed to reveal a school, a Baptist church, businesses, homes, a hotel, a library, and others. "Colonel Allen Allensworth's dream of an independent, democratic town where African Americans could live in control of their own destiny" was founded in 1908, formed by his California Colony and Home Promoting Association on 800 acres of the Santa Fe Rail Line, according to the State Park website. The town was ultimately abandoned after its founder's untimely death and issues with natural arsenic in the water. It was turned into a state historic park in the 1970s.

• Locke: Visit this quarter-mile-long Main Street at 13967 River Road in Walnut Grove to find not quite a ghost town but a visage of history. Locke was built by Chinese Americans in the 1850s and populated by those who worked along the levee project in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Delta. When you go, look for The Dai Loy Museum, school, and monument honoring the Chinese laborers who lived here. The Locke Historic District, now a National Historic Landmark where a few families still call home, is a living example of history. For more information, visit the Locke Foundation website.

• Mentryville: Near Santa Clarita Woodlands Park, located at 27201 Pico Canyon Road, in Stevenson Ranch, Mentryville wasn't the result of regular gold but the liquid gold variety. Oil was found in Pico Canyon, and with it, a well that started the Chevron Oil Company. Starting in about 1875, drillers came from miles around to live and work here until 1920s era when the oil ran dry. Find bunkhouses, barns, machine shops, a dance hall, and an old school. Charles Alexander Mentry, who discovered the well, has a homestead here, which is now empty as well.

• Pioneertown: Just outside of Yucca Valley, in Riverside County, you'll find what remains of Pioneertown at 53688 Pioneertown Road. When you arrive, there may be something oddly familiar about the Wild West town. Stroll through the old movie set of Wild West buildings and the Pappy and Harriet's saloon, a favorite haunt of Hollywood filmmakers in the 1940s.

• Silver City: Near Bodfish, CA, below Isabella Lake, you'll find the remains of Silver City. Located at 3829 Isabella Boulevard, Bodfish, this ghost town dates to the 1850s. The story remains the same: a once flourishing gold-rush center was summarily abandoned when the deposits dried up. Later, the Mills family purchased the buildings and relocated them into a ghost town for public viewing. "It exists in arrested decay," for visitors to see buildings and their origins.

• Old Shasta City: Near Redding, CA, located at 15312 Highway 299 West, Shasta is a California State Park. Come to see the row of half-ruined brick buildings once known as the "Queen City" of California's northern mining district. The park hosts the remains of a former mining town in a jumble of empty cottages, life-sized dioramas of days gone by and cemeteries from the gold-rush era. Shasta was once populated with elaborate storefronts and signs that still stand, though they are now empty. The courthouse holds historical exhibits and is worth the visit.

So if you feel the pull to visit some of California's most beloved abandoned spaces, don't hesitate to give some of these a try. And if you go, share your journey with us!

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