Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
with tables, fire grates, potable water and toilets. You can also camp for free in undeve-
loped spots along Buckeye Creek on both sides of the creek bridge.
Honeymoon Flat ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ) , Robinson Creek ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ) ,
Paha ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ) , Crags ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ) and Lower Twin Lakes ( MAP
GOOGLE MAP ) are all USFS campgrounds ( 800-444-7275; www.recreation.gov ; tent & RV
sites $17-20; mid-May-Sep) set among Jeffrey pine and sagebrush along Robinson Creek
and Lower Twin Lake. All have flush toilets except for Honeymoon Flat, which has vault
toilets.
Twin Lakes Rd dead-ends at Annett's Mono Village ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ;
760-932-7071; www.monovillage.com ; tent sites $20, RV sites with hookups $30, r $75, cabin $85-205;
late Apr-Oct; ) a huge and rather chaotic tumbledown resort on Upper Twin Lake. It
has cheap but cramped lodging, and a kitschy low-ceilinged cafe (mains $9-16) studded
with taxidermied fish. Pay showers available.
Bodie State Historic Park
For a time warp back to the Gold Rush era, swing by Bodie ( GOOGLE MAP ;
760-647-6445; www.parks.ca.gov/bodie ; Hwy 270; adult/child $5/3; 9am-6pm mid-May-Oct, to
4pm Nov-mid-May) , one of the West's most authentic and best-preserved ghost towns. Gold
was first discovered here in 1859, and within 20 years the place grew from a rough mining
camp to an even rougher boomtown with a population of 10,000 and a reputation for un-
bridled lawlessness. Fights and murders took place almost daily, the violence no doubt
fueled by liquor dispensed in the town's 65 saloons, some of which did double duty as
brothels, gambling halls or opium dens. The hills disgorged some $35 million worth of
gold and silver in the 1870s and '80s, but when production plummeted, so did the popula-
tion, and eventually the town was abandoned to the elements.
About 200 weather-beaten buildings still sit frozen in time in this cold, barren and
windswept valley heaped with tailing piles. Peering through dusty windows you'll see
stocked stores, furnished homes, a schoolhouse with desks and books, and workshops
filled with tools. The jail is still there, as are the fire station, churches, a bank vault and
many other buildings.
The former Miners' Union Hall now houses a museum and visitors center ( 9am to
one hour before park closes) . Rangers conduct free general tours. In summertime, they also
offer tours of the landscape and the cemetery; call for details. The second Saturday of
 
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