California holds 346 documented ghost towns scattered across its deserts, mountains, and valleys—the third-highest concentration in the nation behind Texas. You’ll find the densest clustering in Kern County, which contains 113 abandoned sites, mostly remnants of 19th-century mining booms. These settlements span from completely barren locations to preserved historic parks like Bodie, each marking where gold rushes, silver crashes, catastrophic floods, and resource depletion abruptly ended communities. The state’s archives reveal how quickly prosperity turned to abandonment across these haunting landscapes.
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10.1 Are California’s Ghost Towns Safe to Explore on Your Own?…