A Short History of Colorado’s Ghost Towns

Few states have more ghost towns than Colorado, where silver and gold rushes filled the high country with camps clinging to slopes above timberline. Animas Forks, at more than eleven thousand feet in the San Juan Mountains, was one of the highest, a silver camp that once claimed the highest newspaper in the country and endured brutal winters and avalanche danger before thin ore and altitude defeated it. St. Elmo, in the Sawatch Range, tells a gentler version of the same story: a gold and silver town along a railroad grade that emptied as the mines and the trains gave out, but survived remarkably intact, with its false-front stores and homes still lining the main street. Together they show the two fates of Colorado’s camps — dramatic ruin and quiet preservation.

Getting There & Access

St. Elmo is the easier visit, reached by a paved and then well-graded road from the highway near Buena Vista, with a seasonal general store and parking; most cars can make it in summer. Animas Forks is a true high-mountain destination, reached by rough four-wheel-drive roads out of Silverton that are only open in the warmer months and demand high clearance, careful driving, and attention to fast-changing mountain weather. At these elevations, afternoon thunderstorms, snow at any season, and thin air are real factors. Carry water, layers, and a full tank, start early, and check current road and pass conditions before committing to the backcountry routes.

Public Land & Responsible Visiting

Most of Colorado’s ghost towns lie on national forest or Bureau of Land Management land, often surrounded by private mining claims. Historic buildings are fragile and protected — do not enter unstable structures, remove artifacts, or dig around foundations. The mountains are honeycombed with old shafts and adits that can be deadly, so stay well clear of any opening. Keep vehicles on designated routes to protect the slow-growing alpine tundra, which can take decades to recover from a single set of tire tracks. Pack out all trash, yield to uphill traffic on narrow shelf roads, and treat the surviving buildings of places like St. Elmo as the irreplaceable record they are.