Ghost town

But I am not staying here.

I am heading north toward the Zofre Free Zone and then inland to the ghost towns that built this city.

I take a taxi to the northern edge of town, paying roughly 6,000 Chilean pesos, about $6, for the ride.

The driver, a pragmatic man who speaks little, navigates the traffic with an easy confidence.

Legend says he was buried but exhumed a few days later when LA Times reporters showed up for photos.

And maybe haunted or not, there are ghost towns.

Death Valley is home to several abandoned mining towns known as ghost towns, including Ballarat, Chloride City, Panamint City, Rhyolite, and Pioneer.

Ballarat was once a bustling place with three hotels, a school, and seven saloons.

But now it's a ghost town, watched over by a single man and his dog.

By 1906, the town had water and electricity and an estimated population of 5,000 to 10,000 people during its heyday between 1905 and 1911.

Also known as the Queen City, it had two churches, 50 saloons, 18 stores, two undertakers, 19 lodging houses, eight doctors, two dentists, a stock exchange, and an opera house.

The history, numerous ruins, and proximity to the freeway make this one of the best ghost towns in Death Valley to visit.

[laughs] America's most famous highway, haunted by its own boom and bust.

Well, that's a little concerning, because we just drove a big section [laughs] of Route 66 over the weekend, and you know, I didn't really even think about it, uh, given the history of the road and how so many towns are no longer there or parts of them have, you know, kind of died off and left ghost towns, that there might be this haunted history that goes along with it.

I'm all just happily in the passenger seat singing a Cars song-

[laughs]

[laughs]

"Get out of here." Uh, [laughs] so Route 66 in itself, it didn't just collect ghosts and these fun little ghost stories that we talk about.

It also created ghost towns.

Mm-hmm.

[singing] High desert, high plains, basin, and home range.

Ghost towns with no name.

Storm Country.

At least in credit, it was technically just Bobby Weir's third solo album in 40-something years, but that's kind of only a number.

I'm like, "Oh, we're gonna stay overnight here, and, like, have breakfast together tomorrow." Like, I didn't really know what I was in for, you know what I mean? I brought some of these Ritter songs with me.

We looked at some old traditional songs.

Ghost Towns was one of the first ones I had played him, and it didn't have that, like, intro, howling kind of section.

Just had very basic kind of chord structure for the verse and the chorus.

Legend says he was buried but exhumed a few days later when LA Times reporters showed up for photos.

And maybe haunted or not, there are ghost towns.

Death Valley is home to several abandoned mining towns known as ghost towns, including Ballarat, Chloride City, Panamint City, Rhyolite, and Pioneer.

Ballarat was once a bustling place with three hotels, a school, and seven saloons, but now it's a ghost town watched over by a single man and his dog.

The town had been abandoned for some time, and in the 1960s, the family of Charles Manson stayed at the Barker Ranch south of town.

By 1906, the town had water and electricity and an estimated population of five to 10,000 people during its heyday between 1905 and 1911.

Also known as the Queen City, it had two churches, 50 saloons, 18 stores, two undertakers, 19 lodging houses, eight doctors, two dentists, a stock exchange, and an opera house.

The history, numerous ruins, and proximity to the freeway make this one of the best ghost towns in Death Valley to visit.

Right.

And we're looking for a ghost town in these woods.

Ooh, a ghost town.

It's always spooky to find the remains of a community, especially when it's way out in the woods on its own.

Yeah, that's the case with this one, Ray.

We've been hiking a little over half a mile so far.

Then we should be getting close.

And if a ghost town isn't scary enough for you, there's currently a legal battle because an investment group is trying to put a data center on this land.