Bodie State Historic Park is located in eastern California near Mono Lake, east of Yosemite National Park.

Bodie has been deserted in the 1930ies and has become a state historical park in 1962. It is left in a state of "arrested decay". This means everything is being preserved as it is today while there will be no repairs.

Bodie was named after W.S. Body who discovered gold in the area that fuled the gold rush which made Bodie grow to a population of about 10,000 people very fast. Bodie was a very rough town. It is said that about 1 killing per day happened here.

Bodie is a real ghost town. Nothing here is fake and nothing is being prepared or patched up for the sake of tourists. It has the feeling of an old western with Clint Eastwood. You can roam around by yourself and if you are here during a time when there are not too many visitors you feel as if you traveled through time.

Residents who left, left their possetions behind. It looks as if some strange event has swept away all people and left everything else untouched.

Location and Accessibility

Bodie is located about 20 miles (32km) northeast of the town of Lee Vining, the gateway to Mono Lake, on highway 270 a few miles south of Bridgeport.

From south (L.A.) or north (Lake Tahoe), take US-395 to junction CA-270.
CA-270 is clearly marked and there are even signs to Bodie on US-395/CA-270 junction. The last couple of miles or so have to be driven on a dirt road. During winter this road is not always accessible. Contact the park info at 760-647-6445 to get up to date information.
Do not let the dirt road discourage you from going to Bodie. Even if you did not rent (or own) a 4-wheel drive. The road is drivable even with a sports car. Even though most rental agreements officially do not allow the cars on dirt tracks, we would not be worried about this. Rental Car companies do not have agents on your track. In fact we have seen tons of rental cars in the parking lot.

From east (San Francisco) take Tioga Pass Road through Yosemite National Park. Tioga Pass (Hwy 120) is closed in Winter. It opens in Summer between May and early July and it may be closed as early as October. Call 209-372-1000 (and get ready for a long queue) to find out more about current conditions. An alternative route leads you around Yosemite to Lake Tahoe and then south on US-395.

 

Best Time for Visiting

Whenever the roads are open, it's a good time to visit Bodie.
Even though we prefer Spring for most of our travel in California, as the grass is green and the flowers are blooming, the old western town feeling does not benefit from it. Late Summer is a very good time to visit, although you will have to share Bodie with many other visitors this time.
Try to avoid the holiday season (US school holidays) to beat the crowd.

The lating during late afternoon / sunset is superb for photography. Most people will have left by then. The old buildings take on a golden glow and the long shadows really accentuate the mood.

 

 

It is as if time has stopped here. One can still feel the presence of the former inhabitants.

 

 

Information for Photographers

 

 

Try to come here in the late afternoon and spend at least 2-3 hours until sunset. The light during sunset really adds to the mood of your photographs. Bring a good zoom lens and a polarizing filter.

You will not have access to many of the buildings. To photograph the inside of the store (shown above), you will have to hold your lens really close to the window and shield it from the sunlight as it strikes the glass. A fast lens and a high ISO setting may be required to shoot this handhold.

Bodie offers infinite possibilities for Photographers.
Try to resist the urge to cramp too much into your photographs as this will actually reduce the impact of your photos (see the photo of the wheelbarrow above).

Black and white is very effective for these kind of shots.

 

 

Some of the most appealing subjects include:

• The Swazey Hotel (image right above)
• The jail (3rd image on this page)
• The church
• The graveyard
• The car (1st image) - maybe 100ft behind the Museum
  
• The J.S. Cain Residence
• The mine
• The School House
• The Boone Store & Warehouse
  

When you enter the park (fee $2/person), buy the self guided tour brochure. It includes a detailed map of bodie with all interesting spots outlined and a small section about the history of Bodie.

 

Nearby Attractions

Yosemite National Park, Mono Lake and Devils Postpile are covered elsewhere here.

Accomodations in the Area.

Lee Vining does not have much to offer to the tired traveller. A few restaurants a Best Western and a few shabby looking Motels is all you will see in this small town.

You will find better variety and more choices in the town of Bridgeport (North of Bodie) or in the Ski Resort Town of Mammoth Lakes (South of Bodie). While we haven't explored Bridgeport ourselfes, we have heard good things about this location.
Mammoth Lakes offers a great variety of Hotels and Condos and a great many restaurants.

 

Weather

The weather in the eastern sierra is determined by typical inland climate. At an elevation of about 8000 feet that means during the Summer Day it gets very hot and at night it is cold. In Winter it can be extremely cold and snowy.

Most visitors will come during summer. Bring some water along, especially if you plan to stay a while and enjoy the place since you will not be able to get anything here.

Credits

All images and text by Andre Gunther.

http://www.aguntherphotography.com

PhotoSecrets Yosemite (Photosecrets (Series).) author: Andrew Hudson asin: 0965308707

The Photographer's Guide to Yosemite author: Michael Frye asin: 1930238002