Colorado’s numerous ghost towns offer a tangible link to the state’s historical past, drawing visitors interested in the lives and landscapes of early settlers and Native Americans. These deserted communities, numbering more than 1,000 according to various sources, capture the imaginations of those seeking to understand the boom-and-bust cycles that shaped much of the American West.
There is no formal classification for ghost towns in Colorado, and some sites thought of as ghost towns still maintain small populations. According to Devin Flores, managing editor of the Colorado Encyclopedia for History Colorado, a ghost town is generally perceived as a community that no longer functions as one, often leaving behind empty buildings and a sense of finality to the story of its residents.
One notable example is Buckskin Joe, originally known as Laurette, located in Park County. Founded in the 1860s by Joseph Higginbottom, a mixed-race Canadian gold prospector and fur trapper, the town rapidly grew after the discovery of gold. At its peak around 1861, the population reached approximately 5,000. The town featured homes, saloons, dance halls, and general stores, with Horace Tabor, an early prominent Coloradan, having spent time there before moving to Leadville. Buckskin Joe’s decline was swift, driven by a smallpox outbreak and poor gold yields, leading to abandonment by 1866.
In the mid-20th century, Hollywood brought renewed attention to Buckskin Joe when buildings—including Tabor’s former general store—were relocated to create a Western movie set near Cañon City. The site later functioned as a theme park until 2010, when billionaire William Koch acquired and moved the structures to a private ranch, removing them from public access.
Other ghost towns offer varying experiences for visitors. St. Elmo, located in Chaffee County, maintains around 40 original buildings and continues to operate a general store that sells antiques and refreshments. It is preserved in a state that allows visitors to envision life as it was in the early 1900s.
Ghost towns in Colorado were not exclusively mining communities. Swallows, in Pueblo County, was submerged to create Lake Pueblo following the construction of the Pueblo dam. Gilman, a silver-mining town in Eagle County, was evacuated in 1984 following Environmental Protection Agency orders due to toxic groundwater contamination and later designated a Superfund site. Dearfield, established in Weld County by Black homesteaders in the early 20th century, was abandoned during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression eras, leaving only a few standing structures.
Several ghost towns remain accessible to the public. Ashcroft near Aspen offers self-guided tours with preserved buildings such as a jail and saloon. Animas Forks, in San Juan County, is regarded as one of the best-preserved in the West but requires a high-clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicle. Gothic, now home to the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, retains several original structures. Other sites such as Old Carson and the nearby Carson ghost town (on private property) offer rugged, high-altitude hiking opportunities through undisturbed ruins.
In Chaffee County, Vicksburg and Winfield offer visitors a glimpse into historic mining communities, with preserved streets lined by poplars and log buildings, along with guided audio experiences that bring the 19th-century mining life to life.
These ghost towns collectively reflect the transient nature of settlements built around changing economies and resources, illustrating how communities rise and fall, often leaving behind evocative vestiges of their existence.