Old Mining Ghost Towns Near You

Kennecot, AL

Once upon a time, Kennecott, Alaska had five copper mines. As the mines were depleted they closed one by one, until the last, named “Mother Lode”, closed in 1938. What has been left behind is a beautiful ghost town. Although, some of the buildings were razed and many visitors looted artifacts, the parks service is working on stabilizing structures and offers guided tours. While you are in the area, you might also want to go glacier hiking and ice climbing.

Crystal, CO

Crystal, Colorado is something of a ghost town, although it does have some summer residents. It certainly isn’t as large as it was at its peak when it had two newspapers and two hotels. It is located between Marble and Crested Butte in Gunnison County and is accessible by a four wheel drive road. Many of the abandoned buildings still stand, along with the highly photographed Crystal Mill, below.

St. Elmo, CO

Another mining casualty, this town once had a population of over two thousand, but is now considered one of the more well-preserved of Colorado’s ghost towns. It is filled heavily with tourists in summer and you can rent four wheelers to travel the old mining roads.

 Silver City, ID

 Situated in Owyhee County, Silver City, Idaho was once home to 75 businesses and had a bustling population of around 2,500. Due to its isolated location, when the mines played out, so did the town. Most of it still stands, but the seventy or so buildings are privately owned. It is still worth a visit, although you won’t be able to poke around the dwellings. A great place to stay, during a visit, is the Idaho Hotel which was moved to Silver City from Ruby City in 1868 and has been authentically refurbished.

Wehrum, PA

Wehrum Pennsylvania was founded 1901 as coal mining company town. After several accidents, including a gas explosion that killed four people and another explosion that killed over twenty miners, the mine was sold and then inexplicably closed. The last human beings left in 1934. The houses were cannibalized for lumber and the mine buildings for scrap. You may find relics of the people who lived there in fields and ditches around the area, but the most obvious sign that people once lived here is Wehrum cemetery which is overgrown and fallen to neglect.

Ballarat, CA

Ballarat, California once had everything a good mining town could want- a bunch of saloons, three hotels, a post office, a jail and a morgue- with no church to speak of. One by one, the area mines shut down and the town slowly died, not that it has gone quietly. In the sixties, notorious killer Charles Manson and his followers lived south of town and left graffiti that can still be seen. Also, a memorable scene from Easy Rider in which Peter Fonda’s character throws away his rolex was shot in Ballarat. Ballarat currently has a population of two full time residents, but many campers and sightseers visit throughout the year.

Bodie, CA

When you think of Hollywood’s version of the Wild West, Bodie in its heyday probably fit the bill. Following a gold boom in the late 1870s, close to seventy saloons lined the mile long Main Street. Opium dens, brothels, and shootouts were regular sights in this town, which at its peak had a population of approximately 10,000. The last mine closed during World War II and the town’s remaining inhabitants left. Now Bodie State Historic Park, it is open year round to tourists, although in the winter, it is accessible only by skis, snowshoes and snowmobiles.