Abandoned Towns
Ballarat's scattered buildings on the floor of Panamint Valley with the Panamint Range behind

Gold mining town

Ballarat

A supply town for the Panamint Range mines that held about 500 people in 1898 and was nearly empty by 1917. A prospector called Seldom Seen Slim lived here alone for half a century.

36°02′52″N 117°13′24″W · ≈1,070 ft

Photo: Qwert üpoiuz, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Private land · 2026 video

Ballarat is privately owned (National Park Service, 2021). The newest dated report is a visit video posted on May 10, 2026: a few people still live here as caretakers, and the trading post was closed on that visit, though its museum room of old photos and clippings is shown. Legends of America says visitors are welcome, but its visiting notes carry no date, and we found no dated statement from the owners on visiting or store hours. The last 3.6 miles are a dirt road across Panamint Dry Lake.

Overview

Supply post for the Panamint canyons

Adobe ruins along the road through Ballarat
Adobe ruins along the road through Ballarat · Photo: Marriedtofilm, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Ballarat sits on the floor of Panamint Valley at the mouth of Pleasant Canyon. It was founded in 1897 to supply the mines in the Panamint Range canyons, and George Riggins, an Australian immigrant, named it after the gold town of Ballarat in Victoria. The main mine was the Ratcliff, up Pleasant Canyon, which produced 15,000 tons of gold ore between 1898 and 1903.

At its peak the town held 400 to 500 people. It had seven saloons, three hotels, a Wells Fargo station, a school, a jail and a morgue, but never a church. The Ratcliff stopped work in 1903 or 1905, depending on the source, other mines played out, and the post office closed in 1917.

The town is best known for its last prospectors. Shorty Harris lived here off and on until 1934. Charles Ferge, called Seldom Seen Slim, lived alone in Ballarat from about 1918 until he died in 1968, and he is buried in the town's boot hill. He used to say, "Just bury me where the digging's easy."

Video

Ballarat in 30 seconds

The Panamint Valley supply town: the roadside marker, adobe ruins, the valley from Trona Road and the townsite today.

Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Daniel Lu (User:dllu) (CC BY-SA 4.0), Николай Максимович (CC BY 3.0), Marriedtofilm at English Wikipedia (public domain), Qwert üpoiuz (CC BY-SA 4.0). Original music; narration by Google Gemini text-to-speech, with captions.

Timeline

From supply camp to four-wheel-drive stop

The 1992 marker at the Ballarat Road turnoff on CA 178, 3½ miles west of town
The 1992 marker at the Ballarat Road turnoff on CA 178, 3½ miles west of town · Photo: Николай Максимович, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
  1. Ballarat starts as a supply point for mines in the Panamint Range canyons. Australian immigrant George Riggins names it after the gold town of Ballarat, Victoria. A post office opens.
  2. About 500 people live here a year after founding.
  3. The Ratcliff Mine in Pleasant Canyon (Legends of America spells it Radcliff) produces 15,000 tons of gold ore.
  4. The Ratcliff suspends work: in 1903 by Legends of America's account, in 1905 by the roadside marker. Other mines play out, and the town declines.
  5. The post office closes.
  6. Prospector Shorty Harris, who lived here off and on, dies.
  7. Neil Cummins builds a cinder-block store and trailer park on private land east of town. He gives up on it in 1988.
  8. Charles Ferge, "Seldom Seen Slim," the town's lone resident since about 1918, dies. He is the 28th and last person buried in its boot hill.
  9. About 2,000 people come for an Easter weekend gathering. About 200 catch hepatitis from bad drinking water.
  10. In 2018 Rocky Novak lives here with his two dogs and runs the general store on afternoons and weekends. Around 2020 he moves to Trona, others take over the store, and about two people live in town.

Legend and record

The Manson truck

In the 1960s Charles Manson and his followers moved to a ranch south of Ballarat, and they left graffiti in town. A green pickup left in Ballarat is said to have been Manson's, going by a framed picture and handwritten notes in the trading post. Wikipedia calls this a theory, and we found no record that proves it. We mention it because visitors will hear it, but treat it as legend.

What's left

What you'll see

Most of the adobe buildings have collapsed. Some walls, foundations and miners' cabins remain, along with the store and the boot hill cemetery where Seldom Seen Slim is buried. Ballarat is a meeting point for four-wheel-drive trips, and the Pleasant Canyon loop, about 27 miles, starts just outside town. The old USGS sheets in the next section show the townsite at the mouth of Pleasant Canyon, with mines marked up the canyons of the Panamint Range.

  • Adobe walls and foundations
  • Miners' cabins
  • Store
  • Boot hill cemetery
USGS topographic map of Ballarat at the mouth of Pleasant Canyon
USGS The National Map, topo. The townsite on the valley floor, with Pleasant Canyon to the east.
Aerial view of the Ballarat townsite on bare desert
Aerial imagery, same area. Ballarat Road comes in from the southwest across the dry valley.

Historic maps

Ballarat on USGS maps, 1908–1952

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Ballarat, 1908
Ballarat sheet, 1908, 1:250,000 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

Ridgecrest is the nearest city. CA 178 runs north through Trona into Panamint Valley as the Trona–Wildrose Road. A historical marker marks the turnoff onto Ballarat Road, 3.6 miles of dirt to the town. The shortcut east from CA 14, Redrock–Randsburg Road, has been closed since December 2025, so our Los Angeles route stays on CA 14 to CA 178 and joins the Ridgecrest route in town.

USGS topographic map between Ridgecrest, Trona and Ballarat with the route drawn on it

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

From central Ridgecrest49.1 miabout 2 h 11 min
  1. Head east on Ridgecrest Boulevard, CA 178, which continues as Trona Road.26.3 mi
  2. Continue north on CA 178, the Trona–Wildrose Road, into Panamint Valley.19.1 mi
  3. Turn right at the historical marker onto Ballarat Road, a dirt road, to the town.3.6 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • Ballarat Road is a dirt road of about 3.5 miles across Panamint Dry Lake from the CA 178 pavement. An undated listing rates the trip 2WD, and none of our sources calls for 4WD to the town. The canyon roads beyond it are four-wheel-drive routes.
  • Summers on the valley floor are hot. Bring food and water, and fill up in Ridgecrest or Trona. Don't count on the store: it was closed on a visit in a video posted in May 2026.
  • Kern County Public Works lists Redrock–Randsburg Road closed from Highway 14 to Highway 395 since December 24, 2025, for storm damage, with "no expected opening date at this time," and Garlock Road closed to through traffic (list read October 20, 2026). Older directions from Los Angeles use both. Stay on CA 14 to CA 178 and go through Ridgecrest, as our route does.
  • The townsite is private land, and we found no dated statement from the owners on access. Respect any posted signs.
  • Old mine openings are common in the Panamint canyons. Stay out of them.

Photos

Ballarat in photos

Visitor reports

Been to Ballarat?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Ballarat

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our California index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. ghosttowns.com, "Ballarat": fact sheet fields (roads, climate, best time).
  2. Wikipedia, "Ballarat, California", retrieved October 2026: founding, name, population, buildings, post office, Seldom Seen Slim, the Manson truck theory, 1971 gathering, Rocky Novak and the store in 2018, about two residents around 2020, four-wheeling.
  3. Legends of America, "Ballarat", page updated September 2026 (visiting notes undated): about 500 people in 1898, Radcliff Mine output and 1903 suspension, Shorty Harris, Neil Cummins, remains, private land with visitors welcome, store hours, 3.6 miles from the Trona–Wildrose Road, Pleasant Canyon loop.
  4. DesertUSA, "Ballarat" (undated): one or two residents, store hours, Neil Cummins and the private land east of town.
  5. Historical Marker Database, "Ballarat" (marker at Trona Wildrose Road) and "Ballarat" (marker in town): the dirt road across Panamint Dry Lake, the 1905 date for the Ratcliff closure, the marker 3.6 miles east of the highway.
  6. National Park Service, "Death Valley Ghost Towns", updated 2021: privately owned, with the ruins of several adobe buildings.
  7. Travels of Red Rover, "Overlanding, Photography and Ballarat Ghost Town", YouTube, posted May 10, 2026 (filming date not given; spring wildflowers): the graded dirt road in, a few residents described as caretakers, the trading post closed on the visit, its museum room and the old vehicles. Checked against its captions and storyboard frames.
  8. Kern County Public Works, road status and closures, read October 20, 2026: Redrock–Randsburg Road closed from Highway 14 to Highway 395 since December 24, 2025, with no expected opening date; Garlock Road closed to through traffic.
  9. Coordinates: Wikipedia (from USGS GNIS). Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026; the Los Angeles route is routed through Ridgecrest to keep it off the closed roads.

Photo and map credits