This California State Historic Park of Bodie is appropriately off the beaten path, but take the trip! Your family will love it. The drive there is half the fun surrounded by mountains and views of valleys below.
Your imagination runs right back to the late 1800's with miners and saloons ... it's said to be the largest and best preserved ghost town from the gold mining days gone by.
The teenage boys stated this as being the best part of the weeklong vacation in the area. We also took them to Virginia City... where the old mining town is alive and open as if you're there… it was great (I loved the shopping) but Bodie with its eeriness and dilapidating buildings miles from nowhere with the wind whipping across the side of the mountain opened every one of their senses and we all greatly enjoyed this day.