Leadfield

California wrote the book on ghost towns, from Gold Rush tent cities to Owens Valley farm towns the aqueduct dried up.

Leadfield was an unincorporated community, and historic mining town in Inyo County, California. It is now a ghost town. It is located in Titus Canyon in the Grapevine Mountains, east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park. Leadfield lies at an elevation of 4,058 ft (1,237 m). It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Little stands at Leadfield today beyond foundations and scattered traces. Foundation-only sites reward visitors who enjoy reading a landscape — bring an old plat map or historic photo if you can find one, and the vanished streets start to reappear.

Its park setting is good news for visitors: maintained access and marked routes, with firm rules about leaving every structure and artifact exactly as you found it.

Enter through the national park and follow designated roads and trails to the site. Federal rules protect every structure and artifact, so plan to look, photograph, and leave everything untouched. The mapped point for Leadfield is roughly 36.8500, -117.0600 — use it as a starting point and cross-reference a current topographic map before leaving pavement.

Ghost-town etiquette is simple: take only photographs. Removing artifacts is illegal on public lands and disrespectful everywhere else — and on federal land it can be a serious offense.

The ground itself demands respect: open mine shafts, collapsing floors, and old wells hide in tall grass, cell service is often nonexistent, and help can be hours away. Tell someone your plans, pack more water than you think you'll need — and save the early morning or late afternoon light for your camera.

Want the full story? The Wikipedia article on "Leadfield, California" covers Leadfield in more depth — find the link in Sources below. County archives, historic newspaper collections, and the state historical society are the next stops after that: plat maps, census rolls, and old photographs fill in what a short visit can't. If you make the trip, consider sharing your photos and notes — firsthand reports are how the record of Leadfield gets better.