Bodie is a well-preserved ghost town across the mountains from Yosemite, about an hour northeast. It was a large gold-mining town in the 1870s, with a peak population of between 5000 - 7000 people in 1879. It lingered until 1942 when the U.S. government shut it down.

The town had 2000 buildings at one point, but the 1892 fire destroyed many of the buildings and the 1932 fire destroyed most of the rest.