There's a particular kind of quiet you only find in a place where everyone left. Global Traveler has rounded up seven U.S. ghost towns for travellers after something a little different, and the list is a reminder of how much of American history still stands, abandoned and photogenic, across the West and beyond.
Ghost towns are what happens when boom goes bust. Mining camps, railroad stops and lumber settlements that sprang up overnight in the 1800s were often deserted just as fast when the gold ran out, the timber was cut or the tracks moved on. What remains ranges from fully preserved settlements with saloons and schoolhouses intact to lonely foundations and rusting headframes disappearing into the desert.
The best-known names are in the classic mining states. California's Bodie is a state historic park, kept in a state of 'arrested decay', with more than 100 structures still standing east of the Sierra Nevada. Colorado has several, including St. Elmo, one of the state's best-preserved, high in the Sawatch Range. Nevada is practically dotted with them — Rhyolite, near Death Valley, is famous for its photogenic bottle house and the ruins of a three-storey bank built when the town was expected to be big. Arizona's Oatman sits on old Route 66 and still has living residents, plus wild burros that wander the main street. Texas, Utah, Montana and the Dakotas have their own, from desert flats to high prairie.
Why bother going? Partly it's the photography — weathered wood, empty windows and big skies are a hard combination to beat. Partly it's the history you can touch: standing in a saloon where miners once drank beats any museum plaque. And partly it's the driving itself, since most ghost towns sit in spectacular, remote country that makes a great road trip by default.
A few practical notes. Many ghost towns are seasonal — mountain sites such as Bodie and St. Elmo can be snowed in from late autumn to spring, and some only open with guided tours. Others sit on private land or require a rough dirt road, so check access before you set out and don't rely on mobile signal. Wear proper shoes, bring water, and treat buildings and artefacts as protected: take photos, not souvenirs.
This kind of trip suits self-drivers who like their sightseeing a bit dusty and uncrowded. Pair two or three sites within a region — California's Eastern Sierra, Colorado's central mountains, or a Nevada loop — rather than trying to cross the country for them. A week is plenty for any one cluster, with a national park or two thrown in along the way.
For the full rundown of all seven towns on the original list, see the source piece.
