Old West Ghost Towns

[Philagoofy]

Have you been to an Old West ghost town? Was it all replicated or did some of the original buildings survive all these years? Was it a tour or did you go on your own? Did you enjoy it?

How about dude ranches, have you been to one and what was your experience?

I've been watching old tv westerns - Cheyenne, The Lawman, etc. and find it very interesting. We visited Virginia City, Nevada and the set of Bonanza several years ago.

 

[Smedlap]

Have you been to an Old West ghost town? Was it all replicated or did some of the original buildings survive all these years? Was it a tour or did you go on your own? Did you enjoy it?

How about dude ranches, have you been to one and what was your experience?

I've been watching old tv westerns - Cheyenne, The Lawman, etc. and find it very interesting. We visited Virginia City, Nevada and the set of Bonanza several years ago.

I have been to a few.

You can check them out at Rockymountainprofiles.com

 

[Planogirl]

Check out the ghost town of Bodie in California. I've never been there but sure would like to see it someday.

I once explored a little west of Fort Worth and found a couple of minor ghost towns. The hunt was fun.

The official Bodie website is down right now but here's a little info about the state park: http://www.desertusa.com/bodie/bodie.html Now I'm interested once again!

 

[GeorgeG]

I have never been to one, but have visiting the old west is on my list of things to do... first stop: Tombstone.

 

[Planogirl]

Check out ghosttowns.com to search for sites in your area. WARNING: loud, constant music!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

30 or so years ago, I visited a few with my folks, up in the Sangre de Christo Mountains. I also got to visit the ruins of old pueblos, places that now aren't publicized and are protected from tourists. (We were given mimeographed sheets with the crudest of directions and sent on our way to priceless sites! )

None of it was at all like what I had ever seen on TV. The shapes of falling in log and board buildings with trees growing through everything. . .my brother took a picture of a mine shaft once and when it was developed there were two glowing red eyes staring out of it.

Hot sun and having to watch for rattlesnakes or being cold and getting rained on while lightening and thunder shook everything around us. Fallen in holes in the ground and looking up to see a building perched so well into the rock wall that you didn't see it until you knew it was there.

Someday I want to go back there, just to see it all again, but some part of me is scared to. I know they don't tell you where the old dwellings are anymore (rightly so!), and I'm sure the remains of those buildings are even more dilapidated, if they're even visible anymore.

Still. Every year that passes, those old ghost towns dissappear a little more, so maybe I should go before they're gone entirely. (Of course, I am still absolutely terrified of rattlesnakes. When I was little, I was just being dragged from pillar to post and had no say; besides, I trusted that my parents would protect me. Now I know better. . .and there are still those HUGE snakes. And bears!)

 

[LuvOrlando]

Sounds like fun, I think my family would like something like this

 

[Metro West]

I have never been to one, but have visiting the old west is on my list of things to do... first stop: Tombstone.

 

[Smedlap]

I have never been to one, but have visiting the old west is on my list of things to do... first stop: Tombstone.

First THANKS to you and your Grandchild. I appreciate the protection they provide.


Tombstone is not a bad place to start. The southwest is a great place to hunt for Ghost Towns. If you live in that area many weekend and day trips can be made to see numerous locations. You can see locations that have only foundations and ground features that let you know it was once a town. You can also see interesting sites like the Vulture Mine just outside of Wickenburg that help give a sense of what people dealt with for hardships to open the country for all of us.

Good luck in your hunting.

 

[Smedlap]

(Of course, I am still absolutely terrified of rattlesnakes. When I was little, I was just being dragged from pillar to post and had no say; besides, I trusted that my parents would protect me. Now I know better. . .and there are still those HUGE snakes. And bears!)

You forgot Mountain Lions.... I have ran into a few of them.

And yes Rattlesnakes are a possibility. I stepped within inches of a Pink Rattlesnake at the Vulture Mine in AZ. Luckily it was early in the year and the snake did not strike. It was laying alongside a stone used as a step to enter an old building. Just warming itself in the early morning sun.

Glad it was early in the day. I did not see the snake until I was leaving the building and I actually thought it was a fake because I had stepped so close and it had not moved. Only after I dusted it slightly with some sand did it move.

 

[IdesOmarch]

Yes Tombstone is a good suggestion. NOt a ghost town, but there is the Bird Cage theater and other stuff there that was there during the wild west days. This is a good idea.

 

[Smedlap]

Too bad I am still a rookie "Earning my Ears" and can't post some pictures for you...

 

[perdidobay]

I have been to Bodie, and it is an amazing ghost town, probably the most intact (partly due to it's remote location and state park protection). I would highly recommend it to anyone.
After 40 years of vacationing in the Rocky Mountain states, I have been to many many ghost towns in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and California.
The best ones are real ghost towns where no one lives, are hard to get to and usually involve a 4 wheel drive vehicle,
and take a day to get to them and see them. That said, if you are into history and the wild west, it's worth it.

My favorites that are still inhabited are Virginia City Nevada

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_City,_Nevada

Cripple Creek Colorado ( but before gambling came to town)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripple_Creek,_Colorado

Silverton Colorado
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverton,_Colorado

True ghost towns:

Animas Forks Colorado

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animas_Forks,_Colorado

And my favorite Sunday drive...Black Bear (if you've seen the jeep grand cherokee commercials, you've seen the view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVumQ1-OMLc

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/co/blackbearmine.html

 

[tinkerbellfan6880]

I would love to go to Virginia City, Nevada to see it because it interest me because of Bonanza.

 

[LisaNJ25]

Does this count? http://www.wildwestcity.com/

If so yes

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I have been to Bodie, and it is an amazing ghost town, probably the most intact (partly due to it's remote location and state park protection). I would highly recommend it to anyone.
After 40 years of vacationing in the Rocky Mountain states, I have been to many many ghost towns in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and California.
The best ones are real ghost towns where no one lives, are hard to get to and usually involve a 4 wheel drive vehicle,
and take a day to get to them and see them. That said, if you are into history and the wild west, it's worth it.

My favorites that are still inhabited are Virginia City Nevada

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_City,_Nevada

Cripple Creek Colorado ( but before gambling came to town)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripple_Creek,_Colorado

Silverton Colorado
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverton,_Colorado

True ghost towns:

Animas Forks Colorado

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animas_Forks,_Colorado

And my favorite Sunday drive...Black Bear (if you've seen the jeep grand cherokee commercials, you've seen the view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVumQ1-OMLc

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/co/blackbearmine.html

Annndddd now I am seriously rethinking Disney. . .it would be fun to go up into the mountains this summer, rent a jeep and go hiking.

What gets me is that some of those "barely passable roads"? My parents drove down them in an LTD station wagon!

 

[Smedlap]

Annndddd now I am seriously rethinking Disney. . .it would be fun to go up into the mountains this summer, rent a jeep and go hiking.

What gets me is that some of those "barely passable roads"? My parents drove down them in an LTD station wagon!

Lucky me as I live in the Rocky Mountains and I have a jeep.

Spend my summers in the mountains and plains in the winter. Planning a trip now to SW NM and AZ for more Ghost towning.

 

[perdidobay]

Annndddd now I am seriously rethinking Disney. . .it would be fun to go up into the mountains this summer, rent a jeep and go hiking.

What gets me is that some of those "barely passable roads"? My parents drove down them in an LTD station wagon!

Same here! I remember when I was 7 sitting in the back of a 1964 Rambler station wagon praying to God that my Dad wouldn't drive over a cliff!

 

[perdidobay]

Lucky me as I live in the Rocky Mountains and I have a jeep.

Spend my summers in the mountains and plains in the winter. Planning a trip now to SW NM and AZ for more Ghost towning.

Color me jealous!

 

[perdidobay]

Today (Feb 16) Bing's homepage photo of the day is Bodie CA.
If you've never been on Bing before, just move your curser over the photo till a box shows up and click on the box for more info about the subject of the photo.

http://www.bing.com/?FORM=Z9FD1