Colorado Ghost Towns

Colorado’s mining boom put the state on the map as one of the most lucrative places to be in the late 1800s. Promises of riches brought gold-starry-eyed workers in by the droves as newcomers quickly assembled towns near medal-laden landscapes on grassy meadows and rocky hillsides.  

Some of these towns, like Breckenridge, Leadville and Idaho Springs, remain some of Colorado’s top destinations, while the not so lucky faded into some of the coolest ghost towns of America. Visiting these eerily quiet spots revives Colorado’s boom time as modern-day adventurers wander through abandoned streets once teeming with rambunctious saloons, outlaw showdowns and a lucrative industry that bolstered — and built — the West.

Colorado Ghost Towns You Can Visit

Here are a few of the state's most accessible options, where there are still buildings to see. Be careful. Many of the abandoned buildings are unsafe to enter, and many are privately owned or protected by a local or state historical society. Taking souvenirs is strictly prohibited. Take all the photos you like, though.

Independence

Independence sits close to 11,000 feet on Independence Pass, a steep and nail-biting passage for stagecoach travelers headed to or from Leadville and Aspen in the 1800s. Just off Highway 82, the Aspen Historical Society gives tours of the short-lived town that was deserted by miners via wooden skis made from cabins in 1899.

St. Elmo & Tin Cup

West of Buena Vista, St. Elmo is one of Colorado’s best-preserved ghost towns. With wooden storefronts and a dusty main street, it looks straight out of a John Wayne movie. You can get to St. Elmo in a regular car or by ATV, but after you explore a bit, make your way to the nearby infamous town of Tin Cup. One of the more rowdy towns, sheriffs didn't last very long here, and you can see echoes of their sorry fates lingering at the town cemetery.

Vicksburg & Winfield

North of Buena Vista you’ll find the tree-lined streets of Vicksburg, located in a steep clear-creek canyon. A little farther on this scenic route, you'll come to Winfield, where not much remains but the spirits of disappointed miners. This flash in the pan went boom and bust in only three years.

Carson

Visitors to Carson often think they’re the first to discover the high-altitude town when they see its undisturbed buildings and remote, tricky-to-get-to location near the Continental Divide (from this point, rivers east of the divide flow to the Gulf of Mexico; those west flow to the Pacific Ocean). In addition to its harsh winters, Carson was also unpopular with miners because of its inaccessibility; it sits at nearly 12,000 feet. The best way to get to Carson is from Lake City on Wager Gulch Trail (via 4x4, bike or hike). Continue to the Pacific side of the divide and you’ll find the sister town of Old Carson.

Capitol City

Also near Lake City, 9 miles up the 4x4 Henson Creek/Engineer Pass road, George S. Lee dreamed of being Colorado's governor and making this area and silver-mining town — you guessed it: the state's capital city. In the 1870s, he built a mansion here, and the town featured hotels, saloons, a post office, other homes and more. Today visitors can still see the post office, a smelter stack and blankets of aspen trees and evergreens.

Animas Forks

Plagued by avalanches, the staple feature in Animas Forks is the huge bay window in the two-story Duncan House. Local lore has it the mining heiress and owner of the Hope Diamond, Evalyn Walsh, wrote her biography here. Four-wheel drive is the best way to reach Animas Forks, or you can rent an ATV in nearby Silverton or Lake City. 

Ashcroft

Once home to two newspapers (even Denver only has one!), 20 saloons, a school and many private homes, Ashcroft faded before the turn of the century. Only 10 miles from Aspen, take a self-guided tour of a dozen or so buildings preserved by the Aspen Historical Society, including the jail, livery stable and a couple saloons.

Teller City

Southeast of Walden in Colorado's North Park area, Teller City was a silver-mining camp set amid dense forests. The town was booming in the early 1880s with hundreds of log cabins and nearly 30 saloons, but was busted by 1902. Today, there's a three-quarter-mile loop trail that guides visitors through the scattered cabin remains and artifacts, as well as the surrounding peaceful scenery. 

Tomboy

On the way to Tomboy you’ll pass through “Social Tunnel,” the supposed place where single women met their Tomboy Mine men for, well, social time (you get the idea). Local outfitters offer Jeep tours, but mountain biking into Tomboy from Telluride is a rewarding pursuit — even if there’s no social time along the way.

Goldfield

The incredibly productive Portland Mine was the reason this town came to exist in the late 1800s, but unlike nearby Victor and Cripple Creek, it didn't survive the final bust. A union town with 3,000 citizens at its peak, it relied on the mine for jobs. Today, only remains of a few buildings can be seen, but very easily — right from the highway (County Road 81, about a mile north of Victor) that goes by it.

Ohio City 

Several prime ghost towns lie northeast of Gunnison. From town, take U.S. 50 east to Parlin, where you'll take Quartz Creek Road north. First you'll come to Ohio City, where a few folks still live. It went boom and bust several times. Of the many remaining buildings, you'll find a city hall and a number of private homes.

Uptop

Fifteen minutes west of La Veta between Walsenburg and Fort Garland, Uptop is a town that is ghostly, but not deserted. A railroad depot built in 1877 now houses a museum, and there's also a chapel, tavern, quilt museum and dance hall to tell the stories of this Sangre de Cristo mountain hideaway. 

Dearfield

The only all-Black settlement in Colorado was situated on the eastern plains in the town of Dearfield, east of Greeley. More than 700 African Americans settled here in the early 1900s, but the town died during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl years. Three buildings still stand: a gas station, a diner and the founder's home. Long neglected, attempts to preserve the site are now being undertaken by the Black American West Museum in Denver, with help from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the History Colorado Center. To get there, take CO 34 east of Greeley about 25 miles and watch for the sign.

Alta

The center of mining activity in the Alta-Gold King area from 1877 to the late 1940s, Alta is situated about 10 miles from Telluride. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the site includes several original buildings, including cabins, a boarding house and outhouse buildings — all of which look spectacular amid the idyllic high-alpine backdrop. Continue on Alta Lakes Road past the ghost town to Alta Lakes, a haven for hikers, campers and view-seekers.

Nevadaville

Central City escaped a boom-to-bust fate, but hidden just up the hill is Nevadaville, which bustled with some 4,000 people in its heyday. Several original buildings and a few gravesites are left, in addition to the Nevada Lodge No. 4, still used by Freemasons for monthly meetings. The route up gravelly County Road 1-S is just over a mile and makes for a nice mountain-bike jaunt.

Mayflower Gulch & Boston Mine

Close to Summit County’s popular ski resorts is the Mayflower Gulch Trail. You'll find the trailhead 6 miles south of Copper Mountain, where you can make the 4-mile-round-trip trek to Boston Mine on foot in the summer, or strap on snowshoes or Nordic skis during the winter. Your path follows a gently sloped wagon road through forest before opening up to a bowl peppered with old mining cabins and an ore chute at the base of Fletcher Mountain.

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