America’s abandoned towns are windows to the past. As night falls, ghost towns to visit USA come alive with lingering stories. Creaking wooden buildings cast eerie shadows, haunting streets once filled with fortune seekers and dreamers chasing gold.
These 15 legendary ghost towns invite the brave souls to uncover their spooky histories after dark. From the notorious saloons of Bodie, California to the eternally burning underground fires of Centralia, Pennsylvania, each location holds secrets waiting to be discovered.
As darkness descends, flickering lights can be seen in long-abandoned windows. The wind carries whispers through the crumbling structures – perhaps the sounds of miners’ tools or something otherworldly. In St. Elmo, Colorado, locals claim to have spotted Annabelle Stark’s ghost wandering between deserted buildings, while mysterious orbs light up the desert night in Rhyolite, Nevada.
Grab your flashlight and gather your courage—we’re heading into the darkest corners of ghost towns to visit USA, where moonlight blurs the line between now and then.
1. Bodie, California
Bodie is a ghost town located in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains at an elevation of 8,379 feet. It serves as a reminder of California’s gold rush era. Once a booming gold town, Bodie peaked in the 1880s with over 10,000 fortune seekers and outlaws.
Back in the day, Bodie’s streets were alive with the sounds of 65 saloons, where whiskey flowed freely and gunfights erupted under the stars. Today, 200 crumbling buildings remain—tables set, goods stocked, frozen in time like a ghostly museum.
As night falls, visitors have reported seeing shadowy figures dressed as miners wandering through deserted houses. The Mendocini House is haunted; piano music and children’s laughter often echo through the night air. Park rangers have also shared accounts of unexplained footsteps and doors slamming shut in vacant structures, further solidifying Bodie’s reputation as California’s most genuine—and most haunted—ghost town.
2. Jerome, Arizona
Jerome, Arizona, sits at an altitude of 5,200 feet on Cleopatra Hill. It earned the nickname “Wickedest Town in the West” due to its long history of lawlessness and immoral activities. Once thriving, Jerome’s copper boom drew 15,000 people chasing dreams in the “Billion Dollar Copper Camp.”
Haunted Hotel and Ghostly Encounters
The ghostly tales of Jerome can be experienced at the Jerome Grand Hotel, which was once the United Verde Hospital. Guests who stay overnight have reported sightings of ghostly nurses pushing empty gurneys through the hallways. Additionally, deep within the abandoned mining tunnels, flickering lanterns can still be seen, although no living person dares to enter.
Resilience and Revival
Even though the copper mines ran dry in the 1950s, Jerome refused to fade away. Today, its slanted buildings and crumbling remnants are home to art galleries and wine tasting rooms. After dark, restless spirits wander through the narrow streets, while the old Asylum Restaurant—formerly a mental hospital—serves both local dishes and stories of unexplained footsteps in vacant rooms.
3. St. Elmo, Colorado
Located in the heart of Colorado’s Sawatch Range at an elevation of 10,000 feet, St. Elmo tells stories of wealth and loss through its worn wooden buildings. This ghost town remains trapped in the 1880s, when gold, silver, lead, and zinc filled nearby hills.
The Legend of Annabelle Stark
The town’s most famous resident, Annabelle Stark, refused to leave her cherished home even as the mining boom came to an end. According to local legend, her spirit still watches over the Home Comfort Hotel, her family’s former establishment. Visitors report a pale figure in white, drifting between buildings, or eerie stares from dark hotel windows.
A Glimpse into the Past
The original shelves of the general store still hold dusty goods, serving as an unsettling time capsule of the town’s last days. At night, moonlight transforms St. Elmo into a haunting echo of the American West’s fading glory.
4. Centralia, Pennsylvania
Deep in Pennsylvania’s coal region lies a town where smoke seeps through cracked earth and empty streets whisper tales of an inferno below. Centralia’s streets, once home to 1,000 residents, now stand deserted – victims of an underground mine fire that’s burned relentlessly since 1962.
The few remaining buildings cast long shadows across buckled roads and steam-filled crevices. At night, the town transforms into an apocalyptic landscape as wisps of smoke dance in the moonlight. Ground temperatures reach 900 degrees Fahrenheit, creating an otherworldly scene where snow melts instantly and vegetation refuses to grow.
The government declared Centralia unsafe in 1984, demolishing most structures and relocating residents. Today, less than 5 people stubbornly remain in this real-life ghost town, their homes standing as lone sentinels above the eternal flames that continue to devour the earth beneath their feet.
Local legend warns visitors to listen for the distant rumble of collapsing mine shafts in the darkness – nature’s reminder that Centralia’s hellish inferno shows no signs of extinguishing.
5. Rhyolite, Nevada
Located in the Bullfrog Hills of Nye County, Nevada, Rhyolite serves as a haunting reminder of how quickly wealth can come and go. In 1904, this desert town came alive with the discovery of gold-bearing quartz, turning what was once barren land into a bustling city with a population of 5,000.
The Rise and Fall of Rhyolite
During its heyday, Rhyolite was a place of sophistication and excitement:
- A three-story bank building stood tall, symbolizing financial prosperity.
- A stock exchange operated, indicating active trading and investment.
- An opera house hosted performances, bringing culture to the desert.
- Baseball games attracted large crowds, showcasing America’s favorite pastime.
- Electric lights illuminated the streets, replacing darkness with brightness.
- Concrete sidewalks lined the roads, reflecting modernity.
However, this golden era was short-lived. The financial panic of 1907 dealt a devastating blow to the town’s economy. By 1916, Rhyolite’s once vibrant lights extinguished forever, leaving behind only remnants of its former glory.
What Remains Today
Today, visitors can explore the remains of Rhyolite and witness its decaying structures:
- The Cook Bank Building stands as a crumbling testament to past wealth.
- The bottle house constructed from thousands of glass bottles showcases unique architecture.
As dusk falls over the desert landscape, these ruins cast long shadows – a haunting reminder of what once was.
Mysterious Encounters
Reports from visitors suggest that there may be more than just echoes of history lingering in Rhyolite. After sunset:
Mysterious orbs of light have been seen dancing through empty doorways.Phantom figures are said to drift between the ruins.
These supernatural sightings add an eerie atmosphere to an already ghostly town.
6. Terlingua, Texas
Terlingua, located in the Chihuahuan Desert of Texas, is a haunting reminder of the state’s mining history. This ghost town sits near Big Bend National Park, where crumbling adobe buildings tell stories of its past as a mercury mining hub.
A Town Frozen in Time
The town’s prosperity came to an end in the 1940s when mercury prices plummeted. As a result, many mines were abandoned, leaving behind a network of deserted mine shafts and weathered structures. Today, Terlingua stands as a testament to this forgotten era. The historical significance of the region is evident in its landscape and architecture.
Ghostly Tales and Mysterious Sightings
Local ghost hunters share tales of unexplained phenomena in Terlingua. They speak of echoing footsteps in vacant hallways and flickering lights in the old quicksilver mines after dark.
Visitors also report peculiar experiences around Perry Mansion, a decaying symbol of the town’s former affluence. The abandoned Chisos Mining Company store looms over the empty streets, its shattered windows seemingly observing passing tourists. At night, whispers from the historic cemetery can be heard on the desert breeze, where simple stone markers bear witness to miners long gone.
7. Garnet, Montana
Located in the Garnet Mountain Range, this well-preserved ghost town tells stories of Montana’s golden age. Named after the semi-precious stone found in its hills, Garnet’s streets were once filled with over 1,000 people searching for wealth in the 1890s.
The town’s old buildings remain unchanged – a silent reminder of the rise and fall of Western mining towns. The Kelly Saloon’s creaky doors still swing open, while the J.K. Wells Hotel stands tall against the starry sky.
Local rangers share spooky tales of ghostly miners trudging through dark mine shafts, swinging lanterns in their spectral hands. Visitors have reported hearing mysterious piano music coming from the abandoned hotel at midnight, even though there is no piano inside. The old blacksmith shop has an unexplained cold spot, even on summer nights.
When winter covers Garnet in snow, some say the spirits become more daring – their footprints appearing in fresh powder, only to disappear by morning.
8. Bannack – Montana
Shadows stretch across weathered wooden boardwalks in Bannack, where Montana’s first major gold discovery sparked a rush of fortune seekers in 1862. The town’s preserved structures stand as silent sentinels, their windows dark and hollow against the twilight sky.
Bannack’s Hotel Meade looms particularly large in local lore. Once the county courthouse, its halls now echo with unexplained footsteps and whispered conversations. Visitors report glimpses of a young girl in a blue dress dancing through the empty ballroom, her laughter carried on the night wind.
The gallows still stand where Sheriff Henry Plummer met his fate. A corrupt lawman turned outlaw, Plummer’s spirit allegedly lingers near the jailhouse he once commanded. The creak of rope against wood sometimes breaks the midnight silence, though the gallows have stood empty for over a century.
Moonlight illuminates the 60 historic structures that line Bannack’s streets, casting strange shadows that seem to move of their own accord. The old schoolhouse, church, and Masonic lodge tell tales of frontier life frozen in time – their stories best absorbed under the cover of darkness when the veil between past and present grows thin.
9. Goldfield – Nevada
Whispers of wealth echo through Goldfield’s crumbling facades, where gold once flowed like water through the streets. In 1904, prospectors struck a vein that birthed Nevada’s largest city—a glittering metropolis of 20,000 souls. The Goldfield Hotel, a towering testament to opulence, still guards its secrets behind shattered windows.
The abandoned mine shafts breathe cold air into empty alleyways at night.
Paranormal investigators flock to the historic hotel, drawn by tales of Elizabeth—a pregnant prostitute allegedly chained in Room 109 until her death. Visitors report phantom footsteps on the grand staircase, disembodied voices drifting through darkened corridors, and mysterious lights dancing in vacant rooms.
The town’s skeletal remains cast long shadows under desert moonlight. Decaying wooden structures lean against brick buildings, their weathered bones telling stories of fortunes won and lost. The old high school’s haunting silhouette looms against starlit skies, while the courthouse clock tower stands frozen in time—a silent sentinel over Goldfield’s ghostly streets.
10. Cahawba – Alabama
Deep in Alabama’s Black Belt region lies a haunting reminder of lost greatness. Cahawba – the state’s first capital – now stands as a silent guardian, its moss-covered ruins telling stories of pre-Civil War splendor.
The ghostly remains of grand mansions and government buildings peek through overgrown plants, their weathered faces reflecting in the waters of the Cahaba River. At dusk, shadows stretch across deserted streets where wealthy cotton merchants once walked, their footsteps now replaced by the sound of wind rustling through ancient oak trees.
New Cemetery casts particularly dark shapes against the evening sky. Local legends speak of ghostly figures moving between the worn headstones, while visitors report strange orbs of light floating through the ruins of the old slave burial ground.
The crumbling columns of the Barker-Cahawba House stand as silent witnesses to the town’s downfall, their stark outlines creating eerie shapes in the gathering darkness. When river fog rolls in, it becomes difficult to tell where the past ends and the present begins, leaving adventurers wondering if those footsteps echoing behind them belong to fellow visitors – or something else entirely.
11. Thurmond – West Virginia
Deep in the misty New River Gorge, the abandoned streets of Thurmond tell stories of its coal-mining glory days. This once-prosperous railroad town bustled with over 500 residents who worked the surrounding mines, its depot processing millions in coal revenue.
The ghostly Thurmond National Bank Building stands frozen in time, its weathered facade a testament to the town’s vanished wealth. Train whistles no longer pierce the mountain air, replaced by an unsettling stillness that blankets the historic district after nightfall.
Adventurous souls can wander past the shadowy storefronts and empty hotel windows, imagining the raucous energy that once filled these streets. The restored railroad depot – now a visitor center – takes on an otherworldly presence in the moonlight, its platform seemingly waiting for phantom passengers from a bygone era.
The town’s most spine-chilling feature lies in its perfect preservation, as if its inhabitants simply vanished into the mountain mist. Each creaking floorboard and rustling leaf adds to Thurmond’s haunting atmosphere, making it an unforgettable destination for those brave enough to explore after dark.
12. Calico – California
Calico’s weathered streets, once bustling with miners, now stand silent under the moonlight, holding onto the stories of wealth and despair that still linger in the air. This once-thriving boomtown attracted thousands during the silver rush of the 1880s, with its rugged hills producing over $20 million worth of precious metal.
Today, Calico is preserved as a San Bernardino County Regional Park, where its abandoned mines and storefronts create an eerie atmosphere in the Mojave Desert. The old schoolhouse remains untouched by time, its vacant windows staring blankly into the darkness. Visitors have reported hearing mysterious footsteps echoing through Maggie’s Mine, seeing ghostly figures pass by Lucy Lane’s house, and experiencing unexplained cold spots in the deserted saloon.
The town’s most notorious resident, Lucy King, is said to haunt her former home. Those who visit at night claim to catch a glimpse of her silhouette in candlelit windows, accompanied by the soft sound of piano music drifting through the desert air. The old post office holds its own mysteries – postal workers dressed in period costumes have been seen after hours, disappearing when approached.
Ghost hunters note: The best paranormal activity occurs near the former silver mines and the old schoolhouse between midnight and 3 AM.
13. Kennecott – Alaska
Deep in Alaska’s Wrangell Mountains lies an abandoned place known as Kennecott Copper Mill. Its weathered walls rise fourteen stories against jagged peaks, a silent reminder of an empire built on copper dreams.
In 1903, prospectors discovered rich copper deposits that would yield $200 million worth of ore. The Kennecott Mining Corporation carved a town from wilderness, complete with a hospital, schoolhouse, and recreation hall. Workers braved harsh conditions to extract “red gold” from the frozen earth.
By 1938, the copper veins ran dry. The last train departed, leaving behind a skeleton of industrial might. Today, the mill’s rusted machinery creaks in arctic winds. Empty dormitories and abandoned rail cars cast long shadows across snow-dusted grounds.
At twilight, the northern lights dance above collapsed tunnels and frozen catwalks. Visitors report strange echoes from the processing plant—phantom sounds of stamps crushing ore, ghostly miners’ voices carried on bitter gusts.
The National Park Service preserves these haunting ruins, where icy drafts whisper through broken windows and footsteps crunch on century-old tailings. Each deteriorating building holds stories of fortune seekers who ventured into America’s last frontier, their spirits seemingly trapped in this copper-stained town at the edge of civilization.
14. Elkmont – Tennessee
Elkmont, located in the Great Smoky Mountains, is a place filled with abandoned cabins that tell stories of its past. Once a popular resort community in the early 1900s, these weathered structures now sit silently, surrounded by nature.
Unnamed photographer licensed under public domain.
The Ruins of Elkmont
The remnants of Elkmont reveal its former glory:
- Wonderland Hotel: The decaying remains of this hotel hold memories of extravagant parties and summer getaways.
- Old Appalachian Club: Once a gathering place for affluent families, this club now echoes with whispers of history.
Nature’s Reclamation
As time passes, nature gradually reclaims Elkmont:
- Twisted vines wrap around cabins, symbolizing the power of the wilderness.
- Moss-covered walls add an eerie charm to the abandoned buildings.
Haunting Experiences
Visitors to Elkmont have reported unsettling encounters:
- Unexplained footsteps reverberating through empty hallways.
- Flickering lights in vacant rooms, hinting at ghostly presence.
An Ethereal Landscape
At nighttime, when fog blankets the mountains, Elkmont transforms into a surreal scene:
- Desolate streets become shrouded in mist.
- Time seems to come to a standstill in this otherworldly setting.
Local legends speak of ghostly figures dressed in old-fashioned clothing wandering between cabins after sunset—perhaps eternal guests of this forgotten mountain retreat.
15. Silver City – Idaho
High up in Idaho’s Owyhee Mountains, Silver City’s weathered buildings cast long shadows across empty streets, their wooden frames creaking in the mountain wind. This remarkably well-preserved ghost town has over 70 historic structures—each untouched since the 1860s silver rush.
The Idaho Hotel stands three stories tall, its windows dark except for occasional unexplained lights flickering in upper rooms. Moonlight bathes the old schoolhouse and masonic lodge in an ethereal glow, while the cemetery’s tilted headstones tell silent stories of miners, merchants, and madams who once called this place home.
Local legend speaks of phantom piano music drifting from the hotel after midnight, and shadowy figures darting between buildings in the pre-dawn hours.
The town’s 6,200-foot elevation brings bone-chilling nights perfect for ghost hunting. Visitors report cold spots near the old jail, disembodied footsteps on wooden sidewalks, and the distant echo of pickaxes striking silver-rich rock in long-abandoned mine shafts.
Conclusion
The haunted ghost towns to visit USA echo the country’s wild past, inviting the brave to wander empty streets and forgotten dreams. As a result, every creak and whisper helps these towns retell stories of ambition, lawlessness, and forgotten time.
A nighttime visit to these historic sites transforms the experience from mere sightseeing into an immersive journey through time. The crunch of gravel beneath your feet, the whistle of wind through broken windows, and the dance of shadows in moonlit doorways create an atmosphere unlike any other.
Planning Your Ghost Town Adventure:
- Research local regulations and access restrictions
- Bring appropriate safety gear and lighting
- Consider guided tours for enhanced historical context
- Respect the preservation of these historic sites
- Document your experiences while maintaining reverence
These old mining ghost towns offer more than just creepy thrills—they provide a tangible connection to America’s pioneering spirit. From Bodie’s arrested decay to Jerome’s copper-laden tunnels, each location holds its own unique allure for those drawn to the mysterious and macabre.
The best ghost towns to visit USA feel most alive at night, when silence speaks loudest and the past brushes up against the present. Under the stars, they offer history with a supernatural edge.
