9 spooky ghost towns to visit this fall

Rhyolite, Nev.

As difficult as it is to believe, this dusty strip of land in the Bullfrog Hills of Nevada once was home to bankers, teachers and hundreds of families, in addition to the gold miners who flocked here in the early 1900s. Those who visit Rhyolite, Nev., today can still see walls and skeletal remains of the three-story bank building, part of the old jail and a glass bottle house, which Paramount Pictures restored decades ago for a film.

Rhyolite, 120 miles northwest of Las Vegas, boomed for three years. During its brief life, it had a stock exchange, a board of trade, a train station and two schools. The town is near Beattie, Nev., and 35 miles from the Furnace Creek Visitors Center in Death Valley National Park (but not inside the park). Info: rhyolitesite.com, (760) 786-3200.

(Photo: courtesy Travel Nevada)

Bodie, Calif.

Thousands of abandoned towns dot the western United States, most of them reduced to a few tumble-down buildings or broken chunks of foundation. Not Bodie, Calif., a State Historic Park that still has about 100 buildings in a state of arrested decay. Some call it the nation’s most authentic ghost town — a haunted place where spirits of the past roam. Established in 1859, this windswept Eastern Sierra Nevada town mushroomed to a population of 10,000 when gold was found.

Bodie is far from everything — a 300-mile drive to San Francisco and nearly 400 miles to Los Angeles. But during the boom era, it boasted of 65 saloons and was known for its gunfighters, brothels and rowdy citizenry. When the town was abandoned in the 1940s, its location off the beaten track may have helped preserve it. There are no tourist facilities here, just remnants of the past. Info: bodie.com, (780) 647-6445.

(Photo: Nick / Flickr)

St. Elmo and Tincup, Colo.

Get a Rocky Mountain high in St. Elmo, a well-preserved ghost town that’s considered one of the best in Colorado. Unlike some towns that lasted only a few years, St. Elmo — with its own railroad track — was popular for more than four decades. In the end, though, the silver and gold played out. In 1922, the tracks were abandoned and some people say most of the residents rode the last train out of town and never came back.

With its wooden storefronts and dusty main street, St. Elmo, about 20 miles southwest of Buena Vista, looks like a set from a John Wayne movie. You can get to St. Elmo in a regular car; after you explore a bit, rent an ATV at the general store and visit the infamous nearby town of Tincup, where town marshals often met a violent end. You can see echoes of their fates lingering at the town’s boot hill cemetery. Info: st-elmo-colorado.com, 719-395-2117.

(Photo by Denise Chambers, courtesy Colorado Tourism Office)

Calico, Calif.

This scruffy desert town is a scary place. That’s because today’s visitors say they often run into former residents such as Tumbleweed Harris, the town’s last marshal; Lucy Lane, proprietor of a general store; and Dorsey, a black-and-white dog who delivered mail between mining camps. Of course, all are long dead now, like Calico itself. In the 1880s and ‘90s, however, it was a roaring boomtown with more than 500 silver mines and a population of 1,200.

When silver prices bottomed out at the turn of the century, the town went bust, but it didn't disappear. Restoration began in the 1950s, when Walter Knott — founder of the popular Southern California theme park Knott's Berry Farm — obtained it. He operated it as a tourist attraction for more than a decade, then donated it in 1966 to San Bernardino County, which still operates it— ghosts and all — as a regional park. Info: cms.sbcounty.gov/parks

(Photo: courtesy San Bernardino County Regional Parks)

Ashcroft, Colo.

It took less than five years for Ashcroft to boom and die during the 1880s silver rush. But the town, about 10 miles south of Aspen, Colo., was resurrected in the 1950s when Stuart Mace and his handsome Toklat huskies moved there. They were featured in the TV series “Sgt. Preston of the Yukon,” and the ghost town was fitted with fake fronts to create a Canadian set.

During its brief heyday in the 1880s, Ashcroft had 20 saloons, two newspapers, a school and a population of 2,000. But the local silver deposits, which initially produced an amazing 14,000 ounces of silver to the ton, were shallow, and by 1885 only 100 summer residents were left in town.

Tours are available. Info: (920) 925-3721

(Photo by John Holm / Flickr)

Grafton, Utah

If Grafton looks familiar, it could be because you saw it in a movie. This small settlement just south of Zion National Park near Springdale, Utah has starred in several films, including “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969). First settled in 1859, Grafton had a checkered history, including being washed away in the Great Flood of 1862. When settlers tried to resurrect it, they moved the town site to higher ground.

The one-mile move didn’t help much. There was too much water — or not enough. Flooding eventually drove most of the residents away. By 1921, the local branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints closed its doors and the town was largely abandoned. In 1997, a heritage group was formed to preserve and restore Grafton; several homes and the church were rehabilitated. Info: graftonheritage.org

(Photo: courtesy Utah Office of Tourism)

Gleeson, Ariz.

There was a time when Gleeson, Ariz., was home to bandits, bootleggers, and a host of other bad guys. Originally named Turquois (misspelled), the town — near present-day Patagonia and not far from Tombstone — sprang to life in the late 1880s because of nearby turquoise mines. Tiffany & Company of New York was said to have had a mine here. But in 1900, an Irishman named John Gleeson found copper and everything changed, including the name of the town.

Gleeson, part of a 100-mile Arizona ghost town loop trail, thrived until the price of copper plummeted. By 1930, many buildings and facilities were in disrepair and there were few residents. In recent years, the town jail has been renovated and other efforts are underway to rehabilitate the town. The jail serves as a museum and gathering place for visitors and former residents. Info: explorecochise.com/Ghost-Towns

(Photo: courtesy Cochise County Tourism Council)

Kennecott, Alaska

The National Park Service calls Kennecott, near Valdez, Alaska, "an extraordinary relic from America's past." The abandoned copper-mining town, now enveloped by huge Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve, was established in 1900 after a rich lode of copper was discovered in the area. The newly built Copper River and Northwest Railroad transported hundreds of miners and their families to the town by before copper prices crashed and Kennecott was abandoned.

Kennecott's buildings fell into disrepair until the town was designated a National Historic Site in 1998 and the National Park Service began restorations on the historic mining structures. Today Kennecott is a well-preserved ghost town and visitors can tour the historic mill as well as hike and trek on nearby Root Glacier. Info: nps.gov/wrst/historyculture/kennecott.htm (907) 822-7250.

(Photo: courtesy U.S. National Park Service)

Fairbank, Ariz.

Fairbank had one thing going for it when it was settled in 1881: a rail stop that made it the main supply point for nearby ranches and for the raucous town of Tombstone, about 10 miles away. At the time, Tombstone was one of the largest cities in the west. Tiny Fairbank — named after Chicago businessman Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank — was a rail hub, but it never grew beyond about 100 residents.

Despite its size, Fairbank had its share of hair-raising tales, including an attempted train robbery in 1900 by the Burt Alvord gang that made headlines. The town faded when drought hit causing most of the farmers and ranchers to move on. Unlike many ghost towns, however, Fairbank managed to hold onto enough residents to keep its post office open for more than a century. Info: explorecochise.com/Ghost-Towns

(Photo by Ron Stewart, courtesy Cochise County Tourism Council)