21 abandoned mining, railroad, and pioneer towns across Utah, with what’s left, how to get there, and whose land you’re on
Utah has dozens of ghost towns left over from its mining, railroad, and pioneer past, including Grafton, Silver Reef, Frisco, Sego, and Thistle. They sit on a mix of public and private land. Some have restored buildings; others are only scattered ruins, and many require gravel or high-clearance roads. Check access conditions and land status before you visit.
The best-known ghost towns are in Southern Utah, within a couple of hours of St. George. Grafton is at the edge of Zion National Park, and Silver Reef is just off I-15 at Leeds. The state’s abandoned towns extend much farther, though: coal camps in Carbon and Grand counties, railroad towns on the old transcontinental line north of the Great Salt Lake, gold camps in the Oquirrh and Tushar mountains, and a town that a landslide drowned in 1983. Below, each town is grouped by region with its history, what remains, directions, GPS coordinates, and the practical detail most lists leave out: whether you can legally walk around it.
Utah Ghost Towns: Quick-Reference Table
Access ratings: Paved reachable by paved road, or with only a short dirt spur; Gravel gravel or dirt a passenger car can manage when dry; High clearance rough or rocky, so high clearance is recommended; View only no public access to the townsite; Check locally road surface not confirmed by an official source.
21 Utah ghost towns by region, access, and land status (September 2026)
Southern Utah has the state’s most visited ghost towns, and the easiest to reach. Most are cotton-mission and farming settlements that floods drove out, plus a cluster of silver camps in Beaver County. Grafton and Silver Reef are the best places to start.
Grafton · Washington County · 1859–1944
Gravel
History: Settled in December 1859 during the Cotton Mission. The first townsite was washed away in the January 1862 flood, and more floods and silt-choked ditches slowly emptied the town. The last residents left in 1944.
What remains: The 1886 schoolhouse/church, the Russell and Louisa Foster homes, a barn and corrals, and a pioneer cemetery. The bicycle scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) was filmed here.
Getting there: From SR-9 in Rockville, turn south on Bridge Road and cross the Virgin River. Then follow Grafton Road about 3 miles on gravel. The cemetery is on the left before you reach town.
Land & etiquette: Preserved by the Grafton Heritage Partnership; private land around it. The road is impassable in a hard rainstorm. There is no water, power, or restroom. Stay on the road through the private land on the way in.
History: This is the rare place where silver was mined from sandstone. Claims were staked in 1875 and the boom peaked at about 2,000 people. The last mine closed in 1891 after silver prices fell.
What remains: The Wells Fargo Express building is now a museum. There is also a rebuilt Cosmopolitan Restaurant, the Rice Building, and foundations along walking paths.
Getting there: Take I-15 to Leeds, about 15 miles northeast of St. George. The museum is at 1903 Wells Fargo Rd.
Land & etiquette: Museum run by the Silver Reef Foundation; the rest of the townsite is now homes. Museum hours (per silverreef.org, 2026): Mon and Thu–Sat, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.; admission $5. Call (435) 879-2254 to confirm. Much of the townsite is now private homes, so stay on the public paths.
History: Moses Harris founded it in 1859. After the 1862 flood the town moved up Quail Creek. Floods, raids, and grasshoppers later pushed residents to Leeds and Silver Reef.
What remains: Stone house ruins, foundations, a pioneer cemetery, and the 1864 Orson Adams House.
Getting there: The site is along Old Highway 91 between Leeds and St. George, about 14 miles from St. George.
Land & etiquette: Mostly private (Harrisburg Estates development). The ruins sit inside a private development. View them from public areas and respect posted signs.
History: This was a second pioneer attempt at an ironworks to supply Utah’s settlements. Poor transportation and the financial panic of the 1870s shut it down within about eight years.
What remains: A beehive charcoal kiln, an arrastra (ore-grinding stone), the foundry chimney, and cabin ruins. Two short interpretive trails, restrooms, and a covered picnic area are on site.
Getting there: Take SR-56 west from Cedar City about 20 miles, then turn south on Old Iron Town Road and follow the gravel (roughly 3–5 miles, depending on the source).
Land & etiquette: Public historic site (free; open daylight hours). Use care on the gravel in winter. The ruins are fenced, so stay outside the fences.
History: The camp grew around the Horn Silver Mine after ore was found in 1875. With 23 saloons, it had a reputation as one of the roughest camps in the West. The mine caved in in February 1885, and the last residents left in the late 1920s.
What remains: Five 1877-era beehive charcoal kilns (on the National Register), a hillside cemetery, foundations, and rusting mine equipment.
Getting there: The kilns are beside paved SR-21, about 15 miles west of Milford.
Land & etiquette: Kilns open to visitors; mine area private and posted. The mine workings are posted No Trespassing and have open shafts. Do not climb on the kilns.
History: Samuel Newhouse built this company silver town around the Cactus Mine in 1900. It had an opera house, library, and hospital. The mine played out by 1910, and the town was deserted by 1921.
What remains: Dozens of ruined buildings, foundations, and rubble. The 1923 silent western The Covered Wagon was filmed here in 1922.
Getting there: Take SR-21 about 30 miles west of Milford (past Frisco) to the turnoff near milepost 57, then follow a poorly marked rocky two-track about 2 miles.
Land & etiquette: Mining-claim land; gates and closure notices have been reported. Bring a high-clearance vehicle. Obey any gates or postings, and view the ruins from the road.
History: This ranching settlement on Shoal Creek had a hotel and telegraph office. Water shortages sent families to Enterprise, and the 1902 Pine Valley earthquake ruined most of the rock homes.
What remains: The cemetery and scattered rubble. Departing residents took most buildings apart for materials.
Getting there: From Enterprise, head west about 6.75 miles, then north about 1.25 miles on a dirt road to the cemetery. The road crosses one gravel creek.
Land & etiquette: Cemetery accessible; surrounding land private. Do not cross the creek when water is running. Treat everything except the cemetery as private.
History: A Mormon farming settlement on the Paria River. Floods in the 1880s and again in 1911–12 made farming impossible, and the town was abandoned by 1929.
What remains: A few foundations and a cemetery. The famous Paria movie set, built for Sergeants 3, burned in 2006. BLM says it will not be rebuilt, and only an interpretive sign marks where it stood.
Getting there: Go 33.5 miles east of Kanab on US-89 and turn north at milepost 31. Then follow the dirt road about 5 miles to the day-use site.
Land & etiquette: BLM (Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument). Do not drive this road when it is wet. The clay can stop even a 4WD. It is not suitable for RVs or trailers.
History: A dry-farming boomtown that peaked at about 1,100 people around 1920. Drought ruined it. The federal government bought out the town in 1936, and the last residents left in 1938.
What remains: A few houses, the church/school building, and a cemetery.
Getting there: The site is in Johns Valley on the east side of SR-22, about 16 miles northeast of Bryce Canyon National Park.
Land & etiquette: Split between private, state, and federal ownership. Parts of SR-22 are gravel. Take nothing from the site, and stay out of the buildings.
History: Settled in 1861 on land bought from the Paiute leader Shunes. Virgin River floods destroyed its crops, and the last resident left in 1902.
What remains: An old rock house, some chimneys, and a small cemetery.
Getting there: There is no public access. Visit nearby Grafton instead.
Land & etiquette: Private farmland — not open to the public. Shunesburg is private property. Do not trespass.
No coordinates listed; the townsite is not open to the public.
Central Utah Ghost Towns
Central and west-central Utah’s ghost towns are mostly mining camps: the Tintic and Oquirrh districts, and high-country gold at Kimberly. Some famous names here are not true ghost towns. Eureka, the Tintic district’s hub, is still a small city of about 660 people. Its Tintic Mining Museum is worth a stop, but call ahead for hours.
Thistle · Utah County · 1878–1983
Paved
History: A railroad town that was already fading when the April 1983 Thistle landslide dammed the Spanish Fork River and flooded it. It remains the costliest landslide in U.S. history and Utah’s first presidential disaster declaration.
What remains: Partly flooded ruins, including a schoolhouse, a hilltop church, and a half-sunk house. Interpretive signs are at the pullouts.
Getting there: From I-15 Exit 261, take US-6/89 east about 12.7 miles to the landslide viewpoint. Continue to the US-89 junction, then go about 1.5 miles south to the ruins.
Land & etiquette: Not confirmed — view from the highway pullouts. Park only in the pullouts. US-6 is a busy truck route.
History: A Tintic district silver camp. Flooded mines and a 1902 fire hit hard. Jesse Knight revived the town in 1907, but his smelter closed in 1915 and the town faded.
What remains: Foundations, mine openings, tailings piles, and the Silver City Cemetery, which is on the National Register.
Getting there: The site is a couple of miles south of Eureka, near Mammoth.
Land & etiquette: Not confirmed — watch for mine postings. Old mine openings and tailings are hazardous. Never enter a mine.
History: A gold, silver, and later zinc camp in the Oquirrh Mountains. Mining ended in 1959. About two dozen people still live here, so it is really a near-ghost town.
What remains: The 1870s town hall and the 1874 Lawrence Brothers Store, both on the National Register, plus a restored school, post office, and train-car visitor center.
Getting there: The site is about 20 miles south of Tooele, near Stockton.
Land & etiquette: Historic district; residents’ homes are private. The historic buildings open on Saturdays, 11 a.m.–3 p.m., May–September (Explore Tooele). Everything else is private.
History: A gold camp where the cyanide process was first used in the U.S., in 1891. It peaked at about 5,000 people. The town was gone by 1930, and a modern open-pit mine (1985–1997) later swallowed the site.
What remains: Nothing of the town. Only the Mercur Cemetery, outside the mine gate, can be visited.
Getting there: Take the Mercur Canyon road west of Cedar Fort. The public can go only as far as the cemetery.
Land & etiquette: Townsite on gated mine property; cemetery open. Do not go past the locked gate.
No coordinates listed; the townsite is not open to the public.
Iosepa · Tooele County · 1889–1917
Gravel
History: A Skull Valley settlement founded in 1889 by Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Latter-day Saints. Most residents returned to Hawaii after a temple was announced at Lāʻie in 1915.
What remains: The cemetery (on the National Register), a memorial with a bronze bust, a pavilion, and a few foundations. A Memorial Day weekend gathering draws descendants every year.
Getting there: From I-80 Exit 77, go about 14 miles south on SR-196, then about a mile on a good dirt road.
Land & etiquette: Cemetery and memorial kept by the Iosepa Historical Association. The cemetery is a sacred site for descendants, so visit respectfully.
History: A gold camp at about 9,000 feet that boomed from 1901 to 1908 around the Annie Laurie mine. The company went bankrupt in 1910, and a small revival ended in 1938.
What remains: Log and frame ruins, the skeleton of the Annie Laurie mill, and waste rock piles.
Getting there: Take the unpaved Kimberly/Big John Scenic Backway in the Tushar Mountains. Piute County calls the road to the site graded.
Land & etiquette: Public land (per sources); watch for private mining claims. The road is snowbound much of the year. High clearance is recommended on the backway.
Northern Utah’s ghost towns grew along the first transcontinental railroad west of Promontory Summit. When the Lucin Cutoff bypassed the line in 1904, they withered. Corinne, the rowdy railroad town often listed alongside them, is still an incorporated town of about 800 people.
Terrace · Box Elder County · 1869–1904
High clearance
History: A Central Pacific division point with a 16-stall roundhouse, home to many Chinese railroad workers. The Lucin Cutoff made it obsolete in 1904.
What remains: A small cemetery, brick rubble, and the outline of the turntable beside the old railroad grade.
Getting there: Take the gravel BLM byway between Kelton and Lucin.
Land & etiquette: BLM (Transcontinental Railroad Backcountry Byway). BLM says high clearance is required and 4WD is desirable west of Kelton. The road may be impassable when wet.
History: A railroad town and the start of a stage line to Boise. The Lucin Cutoff and a 1934 earthquake emptied it, and the rails were pulled up in 1942.
What remains: Foundations, collapsed buildings, and a weathered cemetery.
Getting there: Go about 35 miles southwest of Snowville, off SR-30, on gravel.
Land & etiquette: Public byway; private parcels nearby. BLM says passenger cars can reach Kelton from Promontory when the road is dry. Past it, you need high clearance.
Eastern Utah’s ghost towns are coal camps and railroad stops that died when trains switched to diesel. Near Helper, Castle Gate (site of Butch Cassidy’s 1897 payroll robbery) was dismantled in 1974, and little remains beyond the rock formation along US-6.
Sego · Grand County · 1910–1955
High clearance
History: An anthracite coal town that thrived from about 1920 to 1947. It lost its market when the railroads converted to diesel and was abandoned by 1955. It was listed on the National Register in 2017.
What remains: The stone walls of the company store, foundations, dugouts, and old railroad trestles. On the way in you pass the Sego Canyon rock art panels (Barrier Canyon, Fremont, and Ute).
Getting there: From I-70 Exit 187, drive through Thompson Springs and north up Sego Canyon, about 5 miles.
Land & etiquette: Rock art site is BLM; townsite may include private land. After the first couple of paved miles the road can become impassable when wet, and the canyon floods. Stay off the trestles.
History: A railroad water stop that later served oil and gas crews. It faded when steam engines were retired and I-70 bypassed it. The opening scenes of Vanishing Point (1971) were filmed here.
What remains: Ruined buildings and old vehicles, plus a cabin and post office that Eileen Muza restored after buying land here in 2015.
Getting there: Near the end of SR-128, about 45 miles from Moab, close to I-70 Exit 204.
Land & etiquette: Private — an artist lives on-site. People live here. Photograph from the road, and do not enter buildings or fenced areas.
Spring Canyon (Peerless, Storrs, Standardville) · Carbon County · 1912–1969
Paved
History: A string of coal camps up one canyon west of Helper. Standardville was built as the "standard" model mining town. The last big mine closed in 1969.
What remains: A concrete coal-storage structure, a bathhouse, railroad trestle, and foundations along the canyon road.
Getting there: Drive about 6 miles up the paved Spring Canyon Road from Helper, which passes Peerless, Storrs, and Standardville.
Land & etiquette: Private — view from the road. The ruins are fenced and posted as private property. Stay on the road.
“Abandoned” does not mean “public.” Many Utah ghost towns are on private or active mining land, so always check for postings before you get out of the car.
Check the road and the weather
Many ghost town roads are clay or dirt that become impassable when wet. Paria, Grafton, Sego, and the Transcontinental Railroad byway all come with official wet-weather warnings. Check the forecast, carry a spare tire, and turn around if the road looks worse than your vehicle can handle.
Pick your season
Spring and fall suit the low-desert sites in Washington, Kane, and Grand counties. Summer is often better for high country like Kimberly (about 9,000 ft) and Widtsoe, and snow can close those roads for much of the winter.
Know whose land you are on
A lot of Utah’s ghost towns sit wholly or partly on private land, including Shunesburg, Cisco, Spring Canyon, most of Harrisburg, and the Mercur townsite. Obey No Trespassing signs, view from public roads, and never cross gates or fences.
Stay out of mines and old buildings
Open shafts, bad air, and collapsing roofs are real hazards at mining sites like Frisco, Newhouse, and Silver City. Do not enter mine openings, climb on kilns or trestles, or step into structures.
Leave everything where you found it
Removing historic artifacts or damaging rock art on federal land can break federal law, including the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, and anywhere it strips the site for the next visitor. Bottles, nails, and boards stay put; photos are the only souvenir.
Plan for no services
Most sites have no water, fuel, restrooms, or cell service. Fill up in the nearest town, carry extra water, and download offline maps before you go.
Utah Ghost Towns FAQ
How many ghost towns are in Utah?
It depends on how you count. Wikipedia’s list of ghost towns in Utah has more than 140 entries, from pioneer farming settlements to mining camps and railroad towns, and many survive only as a name or a cemetery. This guide covers 21 notable ones with verified locations, including a few you can only view from the road.
What is the best ghost town to visit in Utah?
Grafton, near Zion National Park, is the most complete and most photographed: several restored buildings and a cemetery at the end of a short gravel road. Silver Reef, near Leeds, has a museum. For something remote, Sego, near Thompson Springs, pairs ruins with some of Utah’s best rock art.
Are Utah ghost towns free to visit?
Most are free, including Grafton, Old Irontown, Frisco’s charcoal kilns, Paria, Sego, and Iosepa. The Silver Reef Museum charges admission ($5 per adult as of 2026). Some famous sites are on private land and are not open at all, including Shunesburg and the Mercur townsite.
Can you go inside the buildings at Utah ghost towns?
Generally, no. At Grafton, the buildings are preserved by a nonprofit and are best viewed from outside. The museum buildings at Silver Reef and the historic district in Ophir open on set days. Elsewhere, unstable walls, open shafts, and private property make entering structures unsafe or illegal.
What is the best time of year to visit Utah ghost towns?
Spring and fall are best for the low-desert sites in southern and eastern Utah. Summer suits high-elevation sites like Kimberly and Widtsoe, which can be snowbound in winter. Avoid clay and dirt roads during or right after rain at any time of year.
Is Mt. Trumbull a Utah ghost town?
No. Mt. Trumbull (also called Bundyville) is a ghost town in Mohave County, Arizona, on the remote Arizona Strip south of St. George. It is often listed among Southern Utah ghost towns, but it is across the state line.
Sources: Bureau of Land Management (Paria, Sego Canyon, Transcontinental Railroad Backcountry Byway); Utah Geological Survey (Thistle landslide); Grafton Heritage Partnership; Silver Reef Foundation; Utah Division of State History; Explore Tooele; Piute County; Visit Cedar City; Bryce Canyon Country; National Register of Historic Places listings; and each town’s published history. Coordinates are approximate townsite locations. Where sources disagree on dates or distances, we give a range. Hours, road conditions, and land ownership change, so confirm before you go. Last updated September 2026.
