Ghost Towns for RV Travelers

Animas Forks is a preserved high-country ghost town in Colorado, managed by the Bureau of Land Management's Gunnison Field Office. Founded in the 1870s on the Alpine Loop at 11,200 feet, it grew into a real mining settlement before fading to a ghost town by the 1920s. Its cabins make a memorable stop on a San Juan Mountains RV trip.

Ashcroft is a preserved Colorado ghost town in the White River National Forest, operated and stewarded by the Aspen Historical Society under a U.S. Forest Service permit. After an 1880 silver strike it briefly rivaled Aspen, then faded by the early 1900s. Today its restored buildings, trails, and interpretive signage make a short, scenic stop on an Aspen-area RV trip.

Bannack State Park near Dillon, Montana, protects more than 50 weathered buildings along the Main Street of the state's first major gold-rush settlement, founded after the July 28, 1862 strike on Grasshopper Creek. The town's population swelled past 3,000 by 1863 and it briefly served as Montana's first territorial capital. Today FWP keeps the streets open to wander, with a 28-site campground on the property, making it a natural overnight stop on a southwest Montana RV loop.

The mining town of Berlin grew up around an 1896 gold mine, supported a few hundred residents, and was essentially abandoned by 1911. Nevada State Parks established the protected area in 1957, primarily to safeguard one of North America's most significant ichthyosaur fossil concentrations, and it also preserves the Berlin townsite and the Diana Mine. The park is open year-round.

Bodie State Historic Park preserves the remains of a gold-rush boomtown that once held about 8,000 people and some 2,000 structures. Two fires and a century of weather left fewer than 10% of those buildings standing, and the park maintains them exactly as found. It is open to the public daily, making it a centerpiece stop on any eastern Sierra RV route.

Calico boomed on silver from 1881 until the metal lost its value in the mid-1890s, then faded. Walter Knott bought and restored the townsite in the 1950s, rebuilding most structures while keeping five original buildings. It is now part of the San Bernardino County Regional Parks system, designated California Historical Landmark 782, and open daily to visitors.

Land of the Yankee Fork State Park, managed by Idaho's Department of Parks and Recreation, protects a cluster of frontier mining history in the central Idaho mountains. The centerpiece is Custer, founded in early 1879 by gold speculators, which peaked at 600 residents in 1896 before becoming a ghost town by 1910-11. The park also includes the Bayhorse ghost town and the 988-ton Yankee Fork Gold Dredge, with self-guided tours, a museum, and the Custer Days event each July, making it a rich RV stop in the Salmon River region.

A West Desert silver ghost town on BLM-administered public land in Beaver County, Utah. Frisco grew to roughly 6,000 people and 23 saloons before a major mine collapse in 1885 ended its boom. The five stone beehive charcoal kilns, used to make fuel for the smelters, are the most notable landmark and are on the National Register of Historic Places; a cemetery and scattered ruins also remain.

Garnet Ghost Town is a public-lands ghost town managed by the Bureau of Land Management in the mountains of western Montana. At its 1890s peak about a thousand people lived here scouring the surrounding hills for gold, but the town was largely abandoned roughly 20 years later when the gold ran out. The BLM keeps it well preserved, with a seasonal visitor center open daily from late May through September, making it a memorable detour on a Montana RV itinerary.

A free-to-visit, restored pioneer townsite near Zion National Park, preserved through the Grafton Heritage Partnership in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management and Utah's Division of State History. Settled in 1859 and emptied by floods (last residents left in 1944), Grafton today features a restored adobe schoolhouse/church, the Russell home, a pioneer cemetery, and scenic Virgin River bottomland. It famously appeared in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Independence is a preserved Colorado ghost town on Highway 82 near the summit of Independence Pass, stewarded by the Aspen Historical Society under a U.S. Forest Service permit. Gold was found here around July 4, 1879, and the town boomed to about 1,000 people before a record 1899 winter emptied it. Its remaining buildings make a scenic, roadside stop on a high-country RV drive.

A 761-acre Alaska state historical park preserving an abandoned alpine gold-mining camp at Hatcher Pass, managed by the Alaska Division of Parks. A summer visitor center, displays, and guided tours interpret the site; the surrounding road is a popular scenic drive.

A preserved early-20th-century copper-mining camp in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska, centered on a towering wood-frame mill. The National Park Service acquired and restored many of the buildings, and it sits at the end of the gravel McCarthy Road in deep wilderness.

A free, BLM-managed ghost town about an hour northwest of Las Cruces. Lake Valley boomed on silver in 1878, then faded once the ore played out. The BLM has restored the schoolhouse and chapel, and a roughly 45-minute self-guided walking tour leads past the surviving structures and the everyday scatter of glass, metal, ceramic, and wood left behind.

A state-managed historic town in the Bonito Valley of southern New Mexico, preserved as it was in the late 1800s. Of its 17 structures, several are open to visitors, including the Old Lincoln County Courthouse and the Tunstall Store, which still displays original 19th-century merchandise in its original shelving. The town interprets the Lincoln County War and the Billy the Kid story.

Miner's Delight is a BLM-managed ghost town in Wyoming's South Pass Historic Mining Area, where gold was discovered in 1868. A walking path leads past roughly seventeen log structures, including cabins, a saloon, and outbuildings, with interpretive panels along the way. It pairs with South Pass City and Atlantic City on a Wind River Country RV loop.

Rhyolite boomed after a 1904 gold strike, drew thousands of residents within a few years, and emptied almost as fast once mining funding dried up. The BLM manages the historic site as a day-use area, preserving standout ruins including the much-photographed Cook Bank Building and Nevada's best-preserved bottle house. It sits a short drive from Death Valley National Park.

Shasta was a bustling center of mining, commerce, and social life during the California gold rush, earning the nickname the 'Queen City' of the northern mines. When the boom shifted elsewhere the town declined, leaving rows of half-ruined brick buildings. California State Parks manages the site, including a courthouse museum, and it is open to visitors several days a week.

South Pass City is a Wyoming state historic site preserving one of the West's gold-rush towns. Managed by Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites & Trails, the restored townsite includes cabins, a hotel and restaurant, a jail, a museum, and the Carissa Mine. It is an easy add-on to a Wind River Country RV trip.

A BLM-managed copper ghost town in La Paz County, reached by about 25 miles of graded gravel road from Parker or Bouse. The BLM keeps Swansea's buildings, railroad grade, foundations, and mine shafts in arrested decay, with small interpretive signs identifying each structure. Remote desert camping and an outhouse make it a true backcountry RV destination.

Virginia City and Nevada City sit along historic Alder Gulch in southwest Montana, born from the spectacular gold discovery of May 26, 1863 that drew an estimated 10,000 people to the area by 1864. The state of Montana, through the Montana Heritage Commission, owns and preserves the towns, which together hold hundreds of historic structures. Visitors can walk the boardwalks, ride a historic train between the two towns, and watch living-history reenactments, making this one of the richest ghost-town stops on a Montana RV trip.