An off-road truck camper (XTC) western Ghost Town tour

We have gone to various ghost towns. The website showing the locations state by state is poorly organized for any sort of planning. The entries are not prioritized in any way. You have to dig down only to often find that there is nothing there except a foundation for one building. Not worth the effort to drive to. But doing a planned trip to the substantial ghost towns would be interesting.

As for high quality ghost towns, the one on the River rd in Big Bend NP was good with quite a few buildings still standing. Dillon MT was an accidental find for us. We were just randomly exploring the backcountry when we stumbled across it. It had a lot of standing building, some semi-standing. Maybe 12-15 and a large mine structure. It's off I-15 just north of the state line.

Here's some Ghost Towns in my neck of the woo...uh, desert:

http://www.arizonaghosttowntrails.com/charleston.html

You've got to be careful, though, the BLM and FS sometimes give false directions in order to limit visits. For instance, Charleston, AZ. BLM will direct you to Millville which is actually across the river from Charleston but is more "ruined".

BTW, the Ike Clanton Ranch is about 3 miles from our place...maybe. ;)

LS

Do a search for Swansea,Ariz and check out some of my posts

Thanks,
I figured this could be a big project requiring lots of 'digging'. My main Ghost Town book is Ghost Towns of the West by Lambert Florin published 45 years ago with hundreds of poor B&W photos of ruins and a few sketches. What alludes me is the timeless (or not) nature of ghost towns and mines. An abandoned mine we explored in Death Valley:

jefe

DV has a lot of historic sites, need to go in the cool months tho.

I've never taken a vacation to specifically look at ghost towns, but I ran across a lot of them when I used to work in Nevada. Some ghost town resources:

list of ghost towns with pictures (lets you know what you'll find when you get there.)

Clickable NV map with links to ghost towns and pictures

Link to website with interesting historical tidbits and pictures

A lot of these ghost towns are way off the beaten path. There are some NFS and BLM CG's that are free and you often have the whole place to yourself. Otherwise, so much of the state is public lands, boondocking is everywhere. But you may find it easier to camp someplace easy to get to and take your 4x4 to the camps.

Absolutely best one I've been to is Bodie, CA There is a fee to get in but it is worth it. It is now a state park...well preserved. The workers live in the town...what I'd give to spend the night there.
Donna

jefe 4x4 wrote:
This is not a trip report but rather a query. Have any of you done or have a great itinerary for a Ghost Town tour of the west (including only NV, CA, AZ). My bro John and I want to make a long winter or early spring caravan trip, but there are so many old mines and towns he'd like to whittle it down to remote, hard to get to sites where we can camp. It would be good if these were strung together in a pattern. We have been to many G. Towns over the years, but never made an attempt at a string of them. I have some books on Ghost Towns of the west, but the array is bewildering. If you have looked into a trip like this and have an itinerary, lehmee noh. Thanks for your time. A remote cyn. in Death Valley:
jefe

Hello jefe4x4, this website maybe of some help to you....GHOST TOWNS

I am almost reluctant to respond to your request. If you are looking for a remote boondocking/ghosttowning adventure, I would look no further than Nevada. The state is littered with mining camps and ghost towns, although as someone stated, it's sometimes not much more than foundations, but even these can be of interest if you learn what to look for. There is a book called The Mining Camps Speak that can make some of these overlooked towns interesting. I would also buy copies of Stanley Paher's books on ghost towns volumes 1 & 2. These two books will provide you with maps, descriptions and history of many of the locations. His original book (the big one) makes a great reference book, but is lacking in maps.

If you are looking for intact ghost towns, sorry there aren't any. Bodie is certainly the best preserved of any, but even it only represents a small portion of what was once there. One of the great tragedies of the west is that these towns and camps have been and continue to be looted.

..