Ballarat

Tucked against the Panamint Range in Inyo County, California, Ballarat spent its brief active life as a supply hub for gold mining operations in the surrounding canyons. An Australian immigrant named George Riggins pushed for the settlement to share its name with Ballarat in Victoria, Australia, and the town was established in 1897. By the early 20th century it had largely emptied out, and it remains a ghost town today.

A quarter-mile south of the townsite lies Post Office Springs, a dependable water source with a history stretching back to the 1850s. Ballarat itself is accessible by passenger car, making it one of the more reachable ghost town sites in the county. Visitors should expect sparse remnants and a remote desert setting rather than a restored historic district.