Ride to Bodie State Park

Want to ask my Cali neighbors. Has anyone ridden into Bodie State Park on their bike? Trying to map out my '11 roadtrip for this summer and would like to visit and take pics of the town, but wonder if its worth it on a bike..

Looking for input for those who have made the journey.

Thanks...

 

Good. By God, you're going to Bodie.

Or "Goodbye, God. We're going to Bodie", depending on who you believe.

Riding there? Holy shite. I've done it in my 4x4 jeep, and that last 3 miles is a hell of a ride. It is quite bumpy. Not sure what bike you're thinking about taking, but the only thing I would even consider is either an all-dirt machine or maybe something like a KLR. Solo either one though. The shaking on that last few miles would beat you and the bike for sure.

It's a cool place, plan to stay a while if you want to see/shoot everything. Lots to see. The air is thin (8400 ft.), so it's easy to get winded just walking around. Pretty brutal wind-wise year round too. Take some water, you'll need it. Sun tan lotion wouldn't hurt either. Chapstick. Eyedrops.

I stayed in Bridgeport overnight in some hotel that used to be a brothel in Bodie, and when folks started to leave Bodie en masse the owner had it moved to Bridgeport, a thriving metropolis in those days. The places to eat in Bridgeport are extremely thin though. Pretty much the restaurant that's hooked to the hotel is it. And...it ain't great food.

Oh...it was the Bodie Victorian Hotel. Easy to find. Right across from the courthouse.

The rooms in the hotel are named after wild west icons, and there's only about 6 or so of them, I think. The only difference: the color of the shag carpeting. It's technically a place to sleep, that's about it.

I stayed in the room with the green shag that was outfitted like a cheap whore's room, even after all these years. And I'm not gonna say the place was haunted, but we never touched the tv, and @ 3am it turned on by itself WFO to static (I'm betting that even during the day you're choices are limited to static.)

THAT will wake you right the F up in a hurry.

It had even been turned a bit on the tv stand it was on to face away from the bed. We didn't do that. Turned it off, and even unplugged it. F ghosts. Hint: you really CAN'T get back to sleep after something like that happens. Apparently it does, according to the "front desk" guy, from time to time. True story.

The best thing about Bodie are all the fotos you'll bring back. I think I took 500+ fotos there. I've done quite a few trips to ghost towns all over CA/AZ/NV. If you're interested in visiting others, let me know and I'll point you in another direction.

Not sure when you're going this summer, but I think Bridgeport has a big July 4th party/parade thing.

 

Oh....the state of CA has started closing state parks again due to the budget. I know when they did this previously (couple of years ago?) Bodie was closed for a while, but the bigger ones (Yosemite) stayed open. The local news says it will be worse this time around, so I'd check for sure before going to see if Bodie gets the axe again. I don't think Bodie gets a lot of visitors since it's so remote, so it wouldn't surprise me if they closed it up again.

 

RE: Bodie trip

Bodie is a 'must see', but NOT on a street bike.

I went there as a 10 year old kid , and came back as a 40 year old and remember everything I saw the 1st time as it still is !

It is a pure ghost town, and huge, with stores and houses left as they were with all the stuff in them.

The general store is fabulous with a real hearse buggy, the bank vault sitting out in the open is weird, the grave yard and the tiny little power line coming in from way far away give it the coolest vibe you would ever get, it is REAL old west out in the middle of freaking no were.

It is written in the town paper back then ( ya the papers and diaries still exist ) that in Bodie there was at least 1 gun fight every weekend.

The Bodie You will see is mostly the 2nd one after the 1st one burned down , but the new one is 'old as the hill's ' and still authentic late 1800 very early 1900's old west, it's self, and a lot of the original is still standing

 

weather report: 5/10/11 got fresh snow in Bodie on top of the regular winter snow that is still there and has not melted yet.