Ballarat through the window of Charles Manson's family car
Located at the foot of the beautiful Panamint Mountains, Ballarat Ghost Town consists of the remains of a former supply station for the nearby mines. As the gold rush ended, Ballarat quickly declined. Residents left everything behind in pursuit of new dreams. The old fossils in the wonderful setting of Panamint Valley create uniquely photogenic ruins that many people miss in their rush from or to Death Valley National Park.
Ballarat is a small gem that nicely completes a portfolio of Death Valley, don’t miss it!
How to get there
At N36° 02.020’ W117° 16.897’ you will see a pullout with a large stone marker with some background information regarding Ballarat. A dirt road leads east towards the Panamint Mountains. A radar station is located close to Highway 178 on the dirt road. Follow this dirt road for about 3.5 miles into town.
Here is a glimpse of Google Street View of the pullout.
GPS position
N36° 02.855’ W117° 13.453’
How to photograph Ballarat Ghost Town
Ballarat Jail and Morgue
Take your time to walk around town and explore the setting, compositions and light. Most visitors rush through the city, barely getting out of their cars. Been there, seen that, is the motto of the binge travel crowd, an unfortunate side effect of our overworked and overstressed society.
Take your time to explore Ballarat at your leisure and you will discover the creepy charm of this city. Charles Manson’s family truck (picture at the top of the article) is a sinister reminder of his nearby hideout, but also makes a superb foreground for pictures.
The two residents and two temporary residents don’t take the ghost town status too seriously. Ballarat features an RV campground and many newly discarded items. The morgue/jail building (photo above) doubled as a storage room for bikes during my visit and according to Wikipedia is inhabited during the summer.
To preserve the ghost town feel of your pictures, you don’t want any modern items showing up in your photographs. Sometimes you have to assume a slightly less compelling composition to keep an RV in the background from ruining a photograph.
Old cars in Ballarat
Despite the earliest remnants of exploration and prospecting, you will also find a heap of trash of somewhat old stuff here that can lead to interesting pictures like these three old trucks.
Ballarat is an amazing find, if you love to photograph details, textures and abstract forms but even for scenic landscape artists it offers valuable shooting opportunities.
Best Time of the Day and Best Season
I usually avoid the entire area during the hot summer months when it is painful just getting out of the car.
Time required
A 5 minute detour from Highway 178 and less than one hour for photographs is all you need.
Equipment
- wide-angle lens
- normal lens
- circular polarizing filter
- water
- sun cream
Fees
You can see Ballarat free of charge.
Close Locations outside Death Valley
- Trona Pinnacles
- Randsburgh Ghost Town
- Darwin
- Red Rock Canyon State Recreation Area
- Cerro Gordo Ghost Town
- Alabama Hills
- Calico Ghost Town
- Saline Valley Desert
- Bristlecone Pine Forest
- Silver City Ghost Town
- Barker Ranch (Charles Manson hideout)
Close Locations in Death Valley
- Harrisburg (Aguereberry Camp) Ghost Town
- Aguereberry Point
- Skidoo
- Charcoal Kilns
- Darwin Falls
Useful Resources
Historic Information on Desert USA (with video)
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4 Comments
Looks like an interesting place.
I love how you managed to capture the views from the windows.
Looks like an exciting place to explore. Well…not exciting as in a rollercoaster but exciting in a different way.
I started to read this post last night but I was alone and it was late and I got creeped out at the mention of Charles Manson. So now that Tony is back, I’m all brave again and can read it. Like your other commenter, I think the view through the windows and the shadow of the window on the wall is awesme.
Very creative execution. WIth a comp like that, you don’t need Topaz or Nik or anything!
Excellent work. And I am very glad to hear the book is coming along! Great news.