The history of Arizona is full of cowboy stories and wild adventures from the Old West. Even though many of those old, dusty streets have now been paved over, there are still legends and ghostly tales that just won’t disappear. They live on in some of Arizona’s coolest ghost towns!
Arizona is known for all its boomtowns. A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that has been completely rebuilt. When the mines were at their busiest, there were boomtowns everywhere in Arizona. But when the mines started closing, these places were abandoned almost as quickly as they had sprung up.
Now there are still about 300 ghost towns left in Arizona. I’ve collected 7 of them for you in this blog. At the bottom of this blog you’ll find a map where you can locate the towns.
Contents
1. Jerome
During its heyday, Jerome was a massive copper mine in the West and they called it ‘The Billion Dollar Copper Camp’. It was also one of the richest towns in the US, with about 15,000 people living there. Nowadays, Jerome is the largest ghost town in America and only 450 people live there.
What makes Jerome different from other ghost towns is that it’s a living ghost town. Many restaurants and hotels have been renovated and are doing well, but some buildings have been preserved in their ruined state. Not only was Jerome one of the richest towns, but it was also known as the ‘Wickedest Town in the West’. This mountain town was full of brothels, saloons, gambling, drinking, fights, shootouts and much more.
The Jerome Historical Society has placed plaques on various buildings to tell about their history and interesting stories about the town. And believe me, there are plenty of interesting stories about the town. If you go to Jerome, you should definitely grab a drink at the Spirit Room Bar, taste homemade fudge at OJ’s Copper Country Fudge, check out the Sliding Jail, visit Jerome State Historic Park and eat a hamburger at the Haunted Hamburger. If you’re brave enough, you can even spend the night in the haunted Jerome Grand Hotel or Connor Hotel! If you want to learn more about Jerome’s history and have an exciting experience, I recommend doing a walking history tour or ghost shuttle tour.
2. Tombstone
Tombstone was once the epitome of the Wild West. Bandits ruled the streets and Geronimo and his Apache warriors ruled the surrounding mountains. It even became a famous tourist spot after Hollywood brought the famous O.K. Corral shootout to the big screen in the 1993 film Tombstone.
But you know what’s so cool? Some of those ghost towns have been brought back to life and are now great places to visit as a tourist. One of them is the legendary little town of Tombstone, which was once a silver mining boomtown in the 1880s. More than 400,000 tourists come to see it every year and Tombstone lives up to its nickname “The Town Too Tough to Die” completely!
Now you can visit Tombstone and catch a glimpse of the past. You can watch a reenactment of the O.K. Corral shootout, make a stop at the notorious Bird Cage Theater on Allen Street, eat at Big Nose Kate’s Saloon and visit the Boothill Graveyard.
If you want to learn more about Tombstone’s dark history, you can book a tour, specially for adults, where you hear all the exciting details. Or if you prefer to go out with the whole family, there’s also a ghost walk you can do.
And you know what’s really cool? You can even stay overnight near Tombstone Monument Ranch. It’s a fun ranch that looks like a small copy of the real town of Tombstone. There you can get meals and go horseback riding!
3. Bisbee
Bisbee is an old historic mining town full of history, exciting stories and even a few ghosts. It is only about 30 minutes from Tombstone, so you can visit both places in one trip.
In 1877, Bisbee started as a small mining camp, but it quickly grew into the “Queen of the Copper Camps”. It was one of the richest mining areas in the world and produced gold, copper, silver and zinc. At the peak of production, Bisbee was responsible for nearly 1/4 of the world’s copper! The town had more than 20,000 inhabitants and was the largest city in the southwest between St. Louis and San Francisco. The mines supported Bisbee for nearly 100 years, but eventually the resources ran out. In 1975, the mines were closed for good.
Today, visitors can visit the Copper Queen Mine and take a look at the Lavender Pit, a mine that is 300 meters deep! The Mining & Historical Museum is also worth checking out. Be sure to walk down Main Street, where it feels like everything is frozen in time. A guided E-bike tour is a great way to explore the town and learn the history from a local guide. And if you want something unique, you can even spend the night in the historic and reportedly haunted Copper Queen Hotel!
Over the years, Bisbee has become a mecca for artists and free spirits. You’ll find colorful murals in the town and even an open-air art museum hidden in an alley.
It is possible to follow an organized tour to both Bisbee and Tombstone. This one is quite pricey though.
4. Chloride
Chloride is another cool living ghost town. In 1920, about 2,000 people lived in Chloride. But now, today, the population of Chloride is less than 400. Yet the residents are proud to preserve the history of this old mining town.
The town was founded in 1862 when they discovered silver ore in the surrounding mountains. During its peak, Chloride had more than 75 mines, where they extracted silver, gold, lead, zinc and turquoise.
If you visit the town, there are a few interesting things you can see. There’s the original local jail from 1860, the oldest still operating post office in Arizona and also the oldest still operating church in Arizona.
You can also make a quick stop at Cyanide Springs. That’s a fun little spot that’s a miniature version of a ghost town, with an old saloon and other buildings. And you can grab some local treats at the grocery store and admire the miniature model of the town. The friendly cashiers will happily tell you more about the history or stories about the town if you ask!
If you have a bit more time, you can take the dirt road and go a bit up the mountain. There you’ll find brightly colored murals painted on rock boulders by a local artist.
Chloride is about a half hour drive outside Kingman, on the way to Las Vegas. Staying in Las Vegas? You can plan a day trip this way.
5. Goldfield Ghost Town
Goldfield Ghost Town is really cool to explore! This town was founded in 1893 when they first found gold in the Superstition Mountains. The main street was soon filled with all kinds of shops and buildings, like saloons, a boarding house, blacksmith, brewery, butcher shop, grocery store and a school building.
But after just five years, the gold ran out and the miners left the town to search for gold somewhere else. In the 1920s, Goldfield got a second chance when they tried to reopen the mines. Even miners and treasure hunters were drawn to this area looking for the mysterious “Lost Dutchman Mine.”
Unfortunately, the town closed its doors for good in 1926. It remained abandoned until the 1980s, when it was rebuilt as a tourist attraction. The buildings you see now are replicas of a gold mining town from the 1890s, but the history is still authentic.
It’s really fun to imagine what life was like back then. You can have a meal at the Mammoth Steakhouse & Saloon, visit an underground mine, take a ride on the Scenic Narrow Gauge Railroad, reenact a gunfight, shoot at targets at the shooting gallery, take a zipline ride over the desert, and much more!
6. Two Guns
Two Guns is an obscure spot along Route 66. It’s a kind of ghost town with dilapidated remains of a trading post, gas station and even a zoo! This creepy ghost town is located right next to the I-40 between Flagstaff and Winslow on the edge of Canyon Diablo.
It’s also the eerie site of the Apache Death Cave. During the Route 66 hype, a clever businessman tried to capitalize on the gruesome attack in the cave. He turned it into a tourist attraction and started selling real skulls from the cave.
Rumor has it that Billy the Kid even sought refuge in Canyon Diablo after he stole money from a train robbery. It’s whispered that the money is still buried somewhere in the canyon.
Today, there’s not much left of the once thriving trading post and Route 66 tourist attraction. But the weathered remains of the mountain lion enclosure are pretty cool! You can also visit the nearby ghost town of Canyon Diablo and check out the remains of this old railroad town.
7. Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a very unique ghost town in Arizona. Unlike most other ghost towns, it didn’t start as a mining town. It was actually dreamed up by a real estate developer from LA and her husband.
In 1937, they founded Santa Claus, Arizona, to draw people to the desert. The heart of Santa Claus was the Christmas Tree Inn and there was lots of land for sale in the area.
For a number of years, it was a fun tourist spot where it felt like Christmas all year round. Children could even visit Santa all year round and send letters that were postmarked from Santa Claus. But unfortunately, in 1949 no one wanted to buy the surrounding land anymore and the town slowly began to decay.
Today, this Christmas-themed ghost town is a sad collection of graffiti-covered buildings. You can still find some peeling red and green paint and remnants of the Christmas atmosphere. Although there’s not much left to see, it’s still a quick stop along the road, just outside US-93 between Kingman and Henderson, NV. And it’s also just a few kilometers from Chloride, so you can easily visit both ghost towns at the same time.
Where can you find these towns?
You’ll find Chloride & Santa Claus in the northwest near Las Vegas. Tombstone and Bisbee are all the way on the other side of Arizona. Two Guns, Jerome and Goldfield are fairly central in Arizona. Hopefully one of the towns fits into your route!
