Explore the Map
Interactive map of Tennessee’s mapped ghost-town sites. Click a marker for details.
A Short History of Tennessee’s Ghost Towns
Tennessee’s abandoned communities tell a different story than the mining camps of the arid West. Here the vanished settlements grew up around timber, coal, and the logging railroads that pushed into the Southern Appalachians in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Elkmont, tucked into the valley of the Little River in what is now Great Smoky Mountains National Park, began as a logging town for the Little River Lumber Company and later reinvented itself as a summer resort community of rustic cottages and a private club. When the national park was established in the 1930s, residents sold or leased their land, and the town slowly emptied as the last lifetime leases expired. Similar patterns played out across the Cumberland Plateau, where company coal towns rose and fell with the seams they worked.
Getting There & Access
Most of Tennessee’s surviving ghost-town sites sit within an easy drive of paved highways, though the final approach is often a gravel forest road or a walking trail. Elkmont is reached from the Little River Road near Gatlinburg, with a maintained campground and marked trailheads that lead to the preserved cottages of the historic district. Unlike the remote desert sites of the West, these Appalachian locations can see heavy visitation in summer and during peak fall color, so an early start makes for a quieter walk. Cell coverage in the mountain hollows is unreliable; download maps in advance and carry water, sturdy shoes, and rain protection, since afternoon storms build quickly over the ridges.
Public Land & Responsible Visiting
Many of Tennessee’s ghost towns now lie on federal land inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park or the Cherokee National Forest, where the structures are protected cultural resources. Standing chimneys, cabins, and cemeteries may look abandoned, but removing artifacts, carving initials, or disturbing foundations is illegal and erases the record for everyone who follows. Stay on established trails to protect fragile understory plants, pack out everything you bring in, and treat the small mountain cemeteries with the respect owed to the families still connected to them. Where sites sit on private timberland, look for posted boundaries and never cross a fence or gate without permission. Photographing and reading the landscape leaves it intact for the next visitor.