21 Best Sights in USA

The mining village of Rattlesnake Gulch, abandoned mine shafts, and the remains of a small Chinatown are among the sights at this fascinating ghost town. The town boomed from about 1878 to 1881; by the late 1940s, though, all its residents had departed. A state park was established here in 1962, with a mandate to preserve everything in a state of "arrested decay." Evidence of Bodie's wild past survives at an excellent museum, and you can tour an old stamp mill where ore was crushed into fine powder to extract gold and silver.   Bodie has no food, drink, or lodging, and snow might cause closure of the road to it from late spring through early fall, so check ahead.

This former silver-mining boomtown was founded in 1881, and, within a few years, it had 500 mines and 22 saloons. Its reconstruction in 1951 by Walter Knott of Knott’s Berry Farm makes it more about G-rated family entertainment than the town’s gritty past, but that doesn’t detract from the fun of panning for (fool’s) gold, touring the original tunnels of Maggie Mine, or taking a leisurely ride on the Calico Odessa Railroad. Of the 33 structures, five are original buildings, such as the impressive Lane’s General Store. The town's setting among the stark beauty of the Calico Hills can make a stroll along its once-bustling Main Street downright peaceful. Camping, cabins, and a bunkhouse are all available for overnight stays. 

This coastal "ghost town" is like nowhere else on the southeastern Atlantic coast, and the few thousand people that make it here each year are stunned to realize it exists.

Inhabited from 1753 until the early 1970s, Portsmouth had 685 permanent residents at its peak in 1860, making it one of the largest settlements on the Outer Banks. It was a "lightering" town, where ships heavy with cargo had to unload to smaller boats that could navigate the shallow Ocracoke Inlet. But the Civil War and the dredging of a deeper inlet at Hatteras were the beginning of the end for the town. By 1956, there were 17 inhabitants; the last two left in 1971. Today, the public can tour the one-room schoolhouse, the Methodist church, the post office and general store, and the turn-of-the-20th-century lifesaving station (a multiroom Coast Guard station), each of which has been restored following the devastating flooding of Hurricane Dorian in 2019. Guided tours are available June 1 to September 1. Bring food, water, and bug spray (the mosquitoes could carry you away). Portsmouth Island Boat Tours runs a small passenger boat from Ocracoke.

South Pass City, 2 miles west of Atlantic City, was established in 1867 after gold was discovered in a creek called Sweetwater in 1842. In its heyday, by various accounts, before the gold thinned out in the 1870s, there were between 1,500 and 4,000 residents. Despite Sioux and Cheyenne raids (over settlers hunting indigenous game herds and miners poisoning their drinking water), the town still boomed until going bust and dropping to double digits by 1872. Its well-preserved remains are now the South Pass City State Historic Site. You can tour many of the original surviving buildings that have been restored, and you can even try your hand at gold panning. With artifacts and photographs of the town at its peak, the small museum here gives an overview of the South Pass gold district.

South Pass City has another claim to fame. Julia Bright and Esther Hobart Morris are two of the women from the community who firmly believed that women should have the right to vote. It is suspected that they encouraged Bright's husband, Representative William Bright, to introduce a bill for women's suffrage in the Wyoming Territorial Legislature. He did so, the bill was ratified, and South Pass went down in history as the birthplace of women's suffrage in Wyoming. In 1870 Morris became the first female justice of the peace in the nation, serving South Pass City.

Although not officially in Death Valley, Ballarat—a crusty, dusty town that saw its heyday between 1897 and 1917—might make an interesting stop during a visit to the park's western reaches. Situated 30 miles south of the Panamint Springs Resort, it has a small store (open afternoons and weekends only) where you can grab a cold soda before venturing out to explore the crumbling landscape. The town itself has just one full-time resident, Rocky Novak. For years Ballarat's more infamous draw was Barker Ranch, where convicted murderer Charles Manson and his "family" were captured after the 1969 Sharon Tate murder spree; the house burned down in 2009.

Bannack was Montana's first territorial capital and the site of the state's first major gold strike, on July 28, 1862, at Grasshopper Creek. Now this frontier boomtown has historic structures lining the main street, and picnic and camping spots. It was here that the notorious renegade Sheriff Henry Plummer and two of his deputies were caught and executed by vigilantes for murder and robbery. A re-creation of the gallows on which Plummer was hanged still stands. Rumors persist that Plummer's stash of stolen gold was hidden somewhere in the mountains near here and never found. Bannack Days, the third weekend in July, celebrates life in Montana's first territorial capital with plenty of exciting reenactments and pioneer-theme events.

You can see and hear a real player piano and a nickelodeon at this indoor "town," a permanent example of Colorado’s Wild West towns complete with a stable, general store, saloon, and smithy. There's also gold panning in the summer.

Goldfield became an instant town of about 4,000 residents after a gold strike in 1892; it dried up five years later when the gold mine flooded. Today the Goldfield Ghost Town is an interesting place to grab a cool drink, pan for gold, go for a mine tour, or take a desert jeep ride or horseback tour of the area. The ghost town's shops and saloon are open daily and gunfights are held on weekends.

A stone school, a dusty cemetery, and a few wooden structures are all that remain of the nearby town of Grafton, which is between Springdale and Hurricane, a few miles west of the turnoff onto Bridge Road in Rockville. This ghost town, which has a dramatic setting with striking views of Zion's peaks, has been featured in several films, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

The old Hillsboro Dude Ranch complex is probably the best known and easiest to reach of the four ranch ruins within the recreation area. There are old log cabins, cellars, chicken coops, and other buildings that belonged to Grosvener W. Barry, one of the area's more colorful characters in the early 20th century. He attempted three gold-mining ventures, all of which failed, before opening a dude ranch here.

The ghost town of Kelly, 4 mi south of town, is reputed to be haunted, and during the Old Timers Reunion a 7K race finishes here (it begins in the village). During its boom time 3,000 people lived in the town. You cannot go into the mine, but you can get a permit to walk around and collect rocks at Tony's Rock Shop in Magdalena at 9th and Kelly (575/854–2401).

There's a peaceful beauty to the former fishing village of Keomuku. In 1898, this small community was chosen as the site for the headquarters of the Maunalei Sugar Company, which lasted just three years, closing in 1901, when the well water became too salty for use and financial pressures took their toll. The area was subsequently abandoned. 

Today, the only sign of habitation is the 1903 church, Ka Lanakila O Ka Malamalama, which has been restored by volunteers. Visitors often leave some small token, a shell or lei, here as an offering. To get here, turn right onto the dirt road at the eastern terminus of Highway 440. The church will be on your right, about 5 miles south and amid coconut trees.

The remains of a few cabins are all that's left of this onetime silver-mining town, established around 1880. Reach it by hiking the 3.6-mile Colorado River Trail. Look for wagon ruts from the old Stewart Toll Road and mine tailings in nearby Shipler Park (this is also a good place to spot moose).

A worthwhile but touristy stop between Kingman and Bullhead City, the ghost town of Oatman lies along old Route 66. It's a straight shot across the Mojave Desert valley for a while, but then the road narrows and winds precipitously for about 15 miles through the Black Mountains. Oatman's main street is right out of the Old West; scenes from a number of films, including How the West Was Won, were shot here. It still has a remote, old-time feel: many of the natives carry sidearms, and they're not acting. You can wander into a saloon or visit the shabbily endearing Oatman Hotel, which now contains a restaurant but no longer rents overnight accommodations. Several times a day, resident actors entertain visitors with mock gunfights on the main drag.

More than 20 curio shops and eclectic boutiques line the length of Main Street. The burros that often come in from nearby hills and meander down the street, however, are the town's real draw. A couple of stores sell carrots to folks who want to feed these "wild" beasts, which at last count numbered about a dozen and which leave plenty of evidence of their visits in the form of "road apples"—so watch your step. For information about the town and its attractions, contact the Oatman Chamber of Commerce ( 927/768--6222; 928/577--9139  www.oatmangoldroad.org).

Surrounded by stunning striated bluffs and rock formations, here in this remote valley you can visit two ghost towns at once at the Paria (sometimes called Pahreah) townsite and movie set, one settled by hardy pioneers and one built by Hollywood but lost in 1998, briefly rebuilt, and then lost to a fire in 2006. In fact, floods also caused the demise of the original settlements along the Paria River, with the original town fully abandoned by around 1930. Films shot here include the 1962 Rat Pack comedy Sergeants 3, the Gregory Peck film Mackenna's Gold, and the famous Clint Eastwood Civil War western, The Outlaw Josey Wales, which was released in 1976, making it the last of the site's movie productions. To get here, drive 33 miles east of Kanab on U.S. 89, turning left—shortly after mile marker 31—at the Old Town Paria rock marker, and following the unpaved road about 4½ miles north to the parking area and wooden restroom.

If you're heading southwest from Silver City (or west toward Arizona from Las Cruces), this is a fun stop. Portions of this settlement in the heart of a working ranch just outside the sleepy town of Lordsburg have been preserved as they were in the town's heyday as a gold and silver mining town in the late 1800s. Founded in 1856, the ghost town has been designated a National Historic Site, and original structures such as homes, saloons, and stables still stand. You'll find no snack shops or other tourist amenities in Shakespeare, as owner Janaloo Hill (who grew up on the ranch, and died in May 2005) vowed not to compromise the authenticity of this genuine piece of the Old West. Shakespeare is about 50 miles from Silver City via NM 90 through Lordsburg.

The Helper area—in particular the area around Spring Canyon, 4 miles to the west—probably holds the state's best concentration of ghost towns. Spring Canyon Road winds past the remnants of several, including the towns of Spring Canyon, Standardville, Latuda, and Mutual. If you're lucky, you might catch a glimpse of "the White Lady"—a ghost rumored to haunt the Latuda mine office. You can get a map of all the ghost towns in the Helper area at the Helper Museum information desk.

If you want to see an authentic ghost town, head 15 miles west on County Road 162. Once the supply center for the Mary Murphy Mine and dozens of smaller mines, St. Elmo is the best-preserved ghost town in Colorado. It doesn't take long to walk along the main street and peer into some of the rickety old buildings. There is a B&B, as well as a general store that's open in the summer. Be aware that this area is very busy with ATVs in summer.

Named for a triad of massive dunes, Tremont is the site of a ghost town (little remains today) and is also a premier birding area. There is a picnic area here with summer-only restrooms.

Once the largest producing gold mine in Arizona, the Vulture Mine has found a new life in the 21st century as a tourist attraction and, sometimes, as a wedding venue. A self-guided tour through this "ghost town" wanders past mining memorabilia; old buildings including bunkhouses, the jail, and a blacksmith shop; the mine shaft itself; and the famous hanging tree, where more than a dozen ore thieves (high graders) were hanged.

Vulture Mine offers no protective safeguards for its aged buildings, shafts, and equipment. Wander at your own risk and keep an eye on children.

Head west from Wickenburg on U.S. 60 for about 6 miles, then turn left onto Vulture Mine Road and travel 12 miles to the mine at the end of the pavement.

U.S. 180 leads northwest about 50 mi from Silver City to Glenwood and Whitewater Canyon—the gateway to the western reaches of the Gila. Return to U.S. 180, and go north 3 miles (just before the very little town of Alma, where you can get some snacks at the Alma Grill or Trading Post), and turn east onto NM 159. Your rewarding destination, about 45 minutes in, on a sometimes one-lane dirt road, is Mogollon (muh-gee-yohn). The gold-mining town, established in the 1880s, was a ghost town for many years but has been revived in the last few decades by a dozen or so residents who live there year-round. A small museum, an antique shop, and a café operate on the weekends. Book a stay at the Silver Creek Inn (www.silvercreekinn.com) and you can spend the weekend exploring this interesting relic of the American West, as well as the breathtaking, and huge, Gila National Forest bordering it.