Ballarat is the gateway to all things Panamint. Including all the canyons along the Panamint Range. The towns one resident Rock Novack runs a small store and museum and offer tales of miners past. The town sees a fair amount of traffic from 4×4 enthusiast and adventurers heading into the nearby canyons. Famous for the 1942 Dodge Power Wagon once owned by Charlie Manson family member Tex Watson.
Created in 1897 Ballarat boomed to 500 residents in 1899 and featured a Wells Fargo, post office, school, jail and saloons. The town began dying in 1905 when the Radcliff Mine closed and the post office officially closed in 1917.
We have stopped in Ballarat many times to see Rock and his occasional guest ‘the mayor’ of Ballarat.
