How to Chase a Ghost
Bodie is just one of hundreds of ghost towns scattered across the United States, although none is lavished with as much care as Bodie is. Many ghost towns in the West are, like Bodie, relics from bursts of mining activity; others are towns that have dwindled away as residents headed for jobs in cities.
For more information on Bodie, visit these Web sites: www.Bodie.com, www.parks.ca.gov/bodie, and www.bodiehistory.com. The park is open year-round, but access in the winter is sometimes possible only by snowmobile. In winter the temperature can dip to nearly zero, and even summer days can be chilly enough to require a sweater and light jacket. To learn about visiting nearby remnants of the unrestored Bodie-era towns Masonic and Benton Hot Springs, see www.ghosttown.info/ca/index.html.
To find other ghost towns, visit the following Web sites, which are managed by ghost-town aficionados. The towns listed on these sites vary from clusters of abandoned buildings to simple stone markers indicating that a town once thrived on a now-vacant spot.
United States Ghost Towns
There may be a ghost town closer than you think. Click on a state in this interactive map to get a list of such towns with descriptions and sometimes photos of what is left to see, along with location information.
Ghost Town USA
This site offers a Ghost Towner Code of Ethics (tread carefully) and a Ghost Town of the Month. Included are some towns that rose and fell in a matter of decades.
Coloma Ghost Town Archaeological Field School
Help document the physical structures and social relationships of the ghost town of Coloma in the Garnet Mountains of western Montana. Unlike most boom-era mining towns, Coloma was known for its library and school, not its bars and brothels. The field school, which is part of the University of Montana’s anthropology department, runs this year from May 26 to June 20. You must apply before May 18. There is a $775 lab fee plus tuition costs, which vary. For more information, click here. To apply, contact coordinators Mark Timmons or Kelly Dixon.
