Great Basin School of Photography

I was asked this question earlier today, and the more I thought of it, the more great times to visit Bodie that I came up with. But if you can’t visit Bodie a lot during the year, what is the best time? I’ll summarize them below.

Of course I’m biased: I think the best access is during our dark night sky photography workshops, held each summer on dates with dark skies, near the new moon date. We practice dark sky night photography in the area ahead of time to get everyone proficient and efficient shooting together, then we have a night or two in Bodie with sunsets and dark sky shooting time, leading you through the best compositions for that month and time of night. We include post-processing sessions so you’ll be able to proficiently fine tune your results.

Next best: there are usually three nights each summer when the Park is open until 10PM, for “Ghost Stories” and “Star Walks”. Although those guided tours fill fast, anyone else who wants to simply be in the Park and remain through sunset and until the extended closing time can do so with normal Park admission. The best ones of those are the latest ones of the year, usually September, when there may actually be some time in the park after astronomical twilight, when the last light of the sun has faded (about 90 minutes after sunset). Then the best years for that of course are when there is no moon in the sky for those precious minutes of dark sky time. So it’s not great for a night photo or two every year (2023 was not good for that). So look up those events and start to research moon cycles, percent full phase, and rise/set times. The downside is that on those nice nights, there are about 200 people in the Park with flashlights, headlamps, and ridiculously bright Coleman lanterns. Apparently they don’t understand the concept of adapting their eyes to the dark to see the night sky, or perhaps they simply don’t care about seeing the night sky at all. Any photography attempted during full darkness during those events tends to be severely light polluted with those brightly-lit people, or the stray light pollution from their lights.

Third best: The first week of October, when you can combine a trip to Bodie with Fall colors down by Bishop, Or the second or third weeks in October, when fall colors start to turn in the areas near Mammoth Lakes and the June Lake Loop. At some point around mid-October the Park closing hours switch from 6pm to 5pm. Just before that, you can almost stay in the Park until sunset, so at least you get good “golden hour” light.

Fourth best: early June, if Bodie Road is open to access the Park, when wildflowers may be blooming in the Mono Basin through Mammoth Lakes area.

Fifth best: late June, when wild iris are blooming along Bodie Road and in the Park itself.

If Bodie remains open well into November or even December, visiting around the full moon dates can give you a great opportunity for a spectacular sunset moon rise at Mono Lake, without the windy conditions of summer.

Another event that a lot of people like is the annual “Friends of Bodie Day” on the second Saturday in August, when people bring antique cars, horses and wagons, and there are reenactments from a specific decade in Bodie’s history. About 2000 people attend that event.

There’s never really a bad time to visit Bodie, but to get more out of your visit trip may want to time you may want to consider the other photography and recreation opportunities in the area. If our photography workshops intrigue you, check out our upcoming schedule!