Ghost Towns, USA

I’m baaaaack! And I appreciate all of your emails of concern. I did not get eaten by mountain lions, as one of my very humorous readers asked. In fact, I am, sadly, back in New Paltz, the land of the living dead as I like to think. Back to the cubicle, back to grind. Gotta build up the cash stacks before my next adventure…I’m thinking somewhere colder this time. The northwest, Alaska, or I may even *gasp* cross the border into Canada.

There is so much I haven’t told you about the remainder of my Southwest/Midwest journey. It will take time, my friends, for me to put it all in words. And so, in celebration of Halloween Month (that’s what we called it as kids), I thought I’d share a bit about my Ghost Town travels. These totally came out of nowhere. I was hanging out with some completely random people in Colorado and they brought me around on their ghost town tour. We also went to the Ghost Town Museum near Denver. A rollicking good time was had by all.

First, what IS a ghost town, you ask? Well, wikipedia will tell you that it is “a town or city that has been abandoned, usually because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as flood or war.” But I would add, that a ghost town is an isolated, desolate, haunted area. Many of the places on this list I’m about to make used to be near railroads, but were abandoned when people moved out to the highways. Some were old mining camps. But all of them are spooky. mooo hooo hahaha! (That was my spooky cackle.)

Here are some ideas for Halloween fun if you happen to find yourselves out in the middle of nowhere in Colarado. The key to a good ghost town experience is to go with the right people. You have to be in the mood to pretend to be scared (because shhhh…they’re not really scary.)

• Visit the deserted cemetery in the Vicksburg Ghost Town.
• Visit Chipmunk Crossing at the St. Elmo Ghost Town.
• Tell some ghost stories near the mine at the Nevadaville Ghost Town.
• Go on an off-road adventure at the once thriving but now sadly devoid of life area of Animas Forks Ghost Town.
• Hike up a mountain to visit restored buildings and storefronts at the Ashcroft Ghost Town.

And if you happen to be in California, take the “walk you’ll never forget”—the Calico Ghost Walk, a 90 minutes after-dark tour of the Calico Ghost Town in Yermo (Barstow).

Happy Halloween!

---

Related Topics:

• Cool and Fun Things to Do in Vail, Aspen and the Colorado Rockies
• Places to Visit in Vail and the Colorado Rockies
• History of Vail, Aspen and the Colorado Rockies
• Getting to Vail, Aspen and the Colorado Rockies
• Getting Around Vail, Aspen and the Colorado Rockies
• 10 Great Places to go for the Green (Golfing)
• October Festivals