Three of us dropped into to Ballarat, CA the other day after leaving Panamint Springs. It is a tiny little ghost town located in Panamint Valley, one Valley west of Death Valley. The owner, Bert was there at the time and he showed us around a bit. Apparently, Easter weekend is a big party there that has been a tradition for some time. They would love to some airplanes arrive if anyone is so inclined. It would be a fun place to camp that weekend, I believe.

If you plan to visit here, note this is in a VERY active MOA so exercise extreme caution at all times, but especially on week days. Also, the locals advised us afterwards that landing on the dry lake isn't advisable as it is wet, even when it looks dry and there is a good chance a plane would flip over, even with Bushwheels.

We landed on the road where the yellow line is in the the photo and that worked well. You can taxi right up to the General Store easily but there are no services here except for cold pop and beer in the fridge.

All in all a neat place to visit and an interesting area. Next trip, I'll take the time to explore it more. We only had about an hour to spend here so we could get home before dark. The next stop for my son and I was Tonopah, NV for fuel on the way home. Unfortunately, we couldn't stick around for the nude dancing burrows.













We were told the Power Wagon was formerly owned by Charles Manson and he and his band used to frequent the area.





Taxi Service:

Was out there a few months ago in the 120. Landed on the N-S road and took-off where you guys did. Huge parking area on the NW side by the cemetery; could fit a dozen planes. Glad more planes are showing up; the caretaker had said they've been few in recent years.

do you just pick a road to land on?

Bdiazair wrote:do you just pick a road to land on?

We used the flag on the Trading Post as a wind sock. Since the wind was out of the west, we used the road heading across the dry lake.

blackrock wrote:

Bdiazair wrote:do you just pick a road to land on?

We used the flag on the Trading Post as a wind sock. Since the wind was out of the west, we used the road heading across the dry lake.

From your question, I'd guess you are considering landing on a road so here are some things to watch out for besides the obvious cars, kids, dogs, etc.

Make sure there are no signs or posts next to the road that could hit a wing! They can be very difficult to see from the air.

Also, beware of the raised berms along the edge of the roads. When turning around, it would be all too easy to get a prop in the rocks. Best to stop, get out, and turn around by hand.

Just double checking what the SOP's are. I don't want to make the locals mad landing where I shouldn't. Looks like a cool place, within an hour of where im based.

Ben

blackrock wrote:

blackrock wrote:

Bdiazair wrote:do you just pick a road to land on?

We used the flag on the Trading Post as a wind sock. Since the wind was out of the west, we used the road heading across the dry lake.

From your question, I'd guess you are considering landing on a road so here are some things to watch out for besides the obvious cars, kids, dogs, etc.

Make sure there are no signs or posts next to the road that could hit a wing! They can be very difficult to see from the air.

Also, beware of the raised berms along the edge of the roads. When turning around, it would be all too easy to get a prop in the rocks. Best to stop, get out, and turn around by hand.

I appreciate the info!

Delano... that would be quite a ride direct to Ballarat over that little hill

Is that "bottle house" still there? It was made out of glass bottles and cement if I recall.

We all used to be terrified to fly around Ballarat, because in the 1980's there were still plenty of rumors and horror stories about whatever was left of Manson's group living up there, demonic sacrifices and all sorts of nastiness. Gave us innocent glider folks the heebie jeebies for damn sure.

Upvote

Added a landing and TO video for Ballarat here:

https://www.backcountrypilot.org/community/forum/latest/blackrock-s-video-page-17802?p=258620#p258620

Cool spot! Looks like you guys had a great trip!

Cory, yes it was a good one for sure. Always enjoy sightseeing around Death Valley. So much to see. It was a little cool at night, but otherwise great weather.

Well if you're coming all the way down to visit Ballarat and Panamint, why not check in at scenic Darwin, CA just a few miles to the west? There's even a post office in Darwin, and I'm told it's a great place to get into a good brawl in the local bar (it's a mining town).

Just make sure you're landing at the actual Darwin airport, a little 2000 foot N-S dirt strip on the west boundary of a very small town, instead of one of the Navy's little practice bombing and weapons testing dirt runways, radar cross-section ranges, etc. That's all part of the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake all around there. More than a few unmarked "dirt runways" and dirt "simuated airports" where you would be less than welcome

You can even pop over the hills to the south part of the Owens Valley and visit Olancha airport (actually located a mile south in Grant, CA), Lone Pine, and the old P-38 training base runway at Manzanar across from the WW2 relocation camp museum.

EZ

Recently watched a documentary on DARWIN. Unique! Not sure how much mining is still done.

Lots of eclectic rundown and run-out characters. My type of documentary.

An elder friend of mine worked a dry dirt gold mine down there in the winter and would come up to help with the Vernillion Vallley Resort at Edison Lake Ca. from May through Oct.

There is even a Real Estate Link


http://www.darwindoc.com/

https://www.facebook.com/darwindoc/

At least a wider cast of characters than Ballarat.

Chris C