Help me plan a ghost town roadtrip!

Been wanting to do this for a few years, but here we are. My wife is obsessed with ghost towns, cool abandoned things, gold panning - you name it.

I've been wanting to do a roadtrip where we hit a few of these towns, drive some good dirt/OHV for her Bday.

Any suggestions on best ghost towns to visit in NorCal (roughly) and associated off roading?

Thank you in advance!

 

Poker flat in Downieville looks cool. It's on the list as well. There's also Bodie near Bridgeport in the east.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-395-and-owens-valley-eastern-sierra-region.700273/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/death-valley-off-road-adventures.60777/

 

Bodie. It’s complete and you can learn. Camp near Masonic.

 

Good call! I used to race the Downieville Classic each year - miss being up there //

 

Something to consider this time of the year is fire.

The area around Downieville is nice. Only comment is it can be somewhat uncomfortable in the heat Definitely worth a visit.

 

Downiville can get pretty damn toasty down in the flats. As a super chicken shit, I'm very unsure about camping in a ghost town lol.

 

Ordain yourself. Hasn't hurt

 

If you go to Bodie or are in that area. Cruise up the 108 and spend some time at leavitt falls. Some cool exploring on the BLM land back behind MWTC off the 108 too. Nice dirt roads you can take without tearing your shit up. Also down the 208 you will find some cool canyons. Hit Walker burger up off 395 at the mouth of the canyon.

 

hahahaha. glock, garlic, holy water, hollow point silver 9mm, salt, salt bug gun. anything else i should pack?

on an actual topic, i read mention in another group( ) that there's a route that starts out in downieville and takes you all the way down to bowman lake. That'd be pretty fun

 

Wonder if that area is getting much smoke from the new Plumas fires?

 

Sort of why I mentioned checking. We’ve had some smoke in the South Bay from local fires but the news was suggesting other, bigger fires too.

 

This. Nothing quite like Bodie, it's just so well preserved and presented. It's a bit further, but it is worth it, and once you hit the Sierra, the drive is fantastic no matter what route you take. Can't stay there at night though, so for that: head to Masonic.

Don't worry, last time I camped there, a few truckloads of high schoolers rolled in at dusk to proclaim the place was only haunted on Saturdays. It was, of course, Saturday night, so they shrieked and hollered for a few minutes and headed back to town. Wife and I had a great time up there.

Honestly, for me, the key tool to survive haunted creepy places at night is a camera. Ghosts exist only in the idle mind. And when I'm doing photography, my mind is in overdrive. There is no sketchy abandoned mine or half-collapsed building I won't charge into with a camera.

Except for Goldome, that place creeped me out!



Edit: also there are tons of "off roading" roads in this district, some of them are challenging if not simply too narrow for 2nd gens but if you have time to explore you won't be disappointed. My favorite drive in the whole entire state is Mt. Patterson just to the north. Highly recommended, less ghost town stuff (but not zero) and EPIC views!

 

Sounds like something a ghost would post.

 

Not wheeling but there’s also Chinese Camp in Tuolumne county.

 

Or Locke. It’s designated as a historic district. It’s located n the Delta. It was certainly one of the best preserved towns although not really 4x4 destination.

 

I hear San Francisco is turning into a ghost town. Lots of camping and zombies too.

 

I was in Bodie this last weekend, did not notice any smell of smoke from fires. It was pretty warm so plan accordingly.

 

Mono lake
Bodie
Masonic
Mt Patterson

 

Nice choice. You can camp on the 120 side off in the forest or take the east side of the lake and camp in the sand. Quick run up 167 to the dirt road to Bodie. Then out the back of the parking lot to Masonic which takes you to 182 and over to Patterson.