Alright, being good to me deeds, I'll answer everyone:
LearyFan: I'll finish this post with the stories we heard.
Electrode: Yes, they did. Until the first bust. They moved out to the desert and stayed at this very ranch. This is, in fact, the very spot where they were finally busted and Manson taken in. He was caught in a little cupboard(3'x2'), and the cop spotted him only by his hair hanging out(ha!).
Psillynilly: I think you are totally right. Datura is a very common plant to that desert. I actually came across Datura while researching the desert for our trip, it's how I found it, so to speak.
bellyyard: "Helter Skelter" was a song by the Beatles, used by Manson to describe the "final war" between the whites and the blacks. This "war" is what he wanted to jump-start and encourage.
mattzdope: Yes, it's standing. No, nobody has burned it down. And YES - you can stay there the night, or more nights, for free(I think the limit is 2 weeks). There is even a little food in the fridge and cupboards for you. These things are actually quite common for our trips. We come across, and stay in, many cabins out in the back country. Sometimes, they are life-savers. Nice warm stove in the middle of a snowstorm is a welcome thing. You gotta hunt them down and make sure they are not private.
ToTheSummit - right on dude! This kind of adventure is ALL the wife and I do, all the time. We go everywhere, too. If you ever find yourself in CA, let me know and I probably have a secret spot or two nearby. You should stop on by and see us sometime we're out. We usually have steaks on the grill, and share with people that have good manners. 
To answer your question, we came in through the west side, up the canyon. Before that, we came in over the mountain to the west of that from Trona Pinnacles(see pic), staying a night up Isham Canyon, then ending up going down through Fish Canyon and down the "Escape Trail" before going up the canyon to Charlies place. Here's a shot of the canyon, and a couple desert views.
Trona Pinnacles:
Drive into desert:
Drive into lakebed before Charlie Cabin canyon:
And the drive up the canyon to the ranch itself:
So then, back to the stories I've heard. Keep in mind, I am aware of the following things while hearing this stuff:
FACT: Charles Manson has recieved and continues to recieve the most mail out of any inmate in history. To this day, his fans are so crazy that not 4 days go by without a new letter.
LOGICAL DEDUCTION FROM FACT: If you have fans and a following like that - it would not be unreasonable to assume that some of them embrace his ideas and would perhaps like to visit a place where he was, especially if it is open to the public.
FACT: Out of the twenty-so members of the "family", only 4 are doing time in prison.
LOGICAL DEDUCTION: What about the rest? I would imagine that some would try and live a normal life, some disappear. But I also imagine that some are still "into" it. And I imagine that some may still live nearby.
Now then, here come the stories...
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STORY#1: We come across a few old guys camping out in the desert, nearby our campsite just outside the Barker Ranch area. Stopped our trucks by their camp to say hi. Scruffy guys, about 55-65 old each of them(total three). Two came up and talked. One sounded just like John Wayne. My "spidey-sense" told me they were ok, so we told them to stop by our camp later. They did. And I'm glad.
He told us that most of his friends refuse to stay the night at that ranch. He's talking about them being scared staying anywhere on the property, not just inside the actual cabin. I'm like, "Jeez, you are all wusses!" He told me to hold on. He went on to say that one time, he stayed there in a tent outside(that's as brave as they got).
(Now, you have to understand that up to this point, I had thought that everyone was scared of any "ghost" type of stuff, you know? Like the place was haunted, whatever.)
And this is where he tells me why they don't stay there... "You stay there, you just might get some visitors in the middle of the night." YIKES! He's talking about "followers" that stop by to pay their respect to Manson, and to check the place out...in the middle of the night.
(Now, I'm thinking..."okay, that's kinda creepy, but even so" I could probably hear a truck coming, see the lights, be aware of their approach, and have enough time to be prepared to meet the threat with the equalizers I possess)
I say to the guy "What - you mean his crazies will come up and try to mess with us? What if we keep our eyes open for them?"
To this he laughs. I wonder why. He says "Because you will never see or hear them coming. They come in over the mountain, on bare feet. Silent. Probably on drugs, too."
(probably on meth...)
"Holy smokes", I say, "No way!". He finishes his story and tells me how when he got up in the morning, all around the tent there were human footprints. Bare feet. Everywhere. No tire tracks coming in or out, and none of his party of 4 had their shoes/boots off, let alone danced all around their campsite in the middle of the night.
He said that was all it took for them never to camp there again. Keep in mind his tent was crappy, and they didn't appear to have money or wealth. Since the killings in the old days targeted the people that had "more" and didn't respect the Manson, I wonder how the common person would be dealt with if found camping at the Manson place, and deemed guilty of disrespect by some "follower"...
The old man went on to tell us about how followers and fans constantly come through that area, and even asked me if had sufficient "weaponry" just in case. I nodded yes, and that was that.
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Next story takes place in Ballart, a little ghost town just north-west of that Barker Ranch. The population is 1. The only man that lives there is the very subject of this story.
We stop by this little ghost town on our way out. In the general store shack, there is a guy with what appears to be a glass eye. Blue and opaque in the middle. He talks and acts a little like the guy in the movie "Slingblade".
He didn't talk a whole lot, but when we probed him about the Barker Ranch, he did tell us that there are even annual gatherings at the ranch by people that religiously get together there and celebrate. He even says that some of the actual family members revisit it and go to these gatherings. He says, "You know, they didn't catch all of them..."
I asked him if he's ever met any. "Sure, they come through here sometimes."
I asked him if they've ever attacked anyone or anything like that. He said, "Not that I know of..."
And when I said that's it's kinda nuts and all, he responded with "uh-huh" in a low rubmle, just like slingblade.
And with that, the wife tugged my arm as if to go. And off we went, to the next adventure...
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"You already know everything, it's just a matter of time before you remember..."
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