Best Mining Ghost Towns to Visit
When the ore ran out, the towns died. Ghost towns from the American west to Mexico, Chile and Australia preserve a bittersweet record of boom and collapse.
Bodie, California
Preserved in 'arrested decay' by California State Parks. Population peaked at 10 000 in 1880; fewer than a dozen today.
Calico, California
A silver town now restored as a county park.
Garnet, Montana
A high-altitude gold-mining town preserved with original buildings.
Sewell, Chile (UNESCO)
The 'city of stairs' above El Teniente — abandoned but inscribed.
Real de Catorce, Mexico
A silver town in San Luis Potosí, partly revived as artists' colony.
Pyramiden, Svalbard, Norway
A Soviet coal-mining settlement abandoned in 1998 with everything left in place.
Goldfield, Nevada
Once Nevada's largest town; perhaps 250 people today.
Burra, South Australia
Restored Cornish copper-mining town.
Berlin, Nevada
A silver ghost town inside an ichthyosaur palaeontology state park.
Kolmanskop, Namibia
A German diamond-mining town being swallowed by Namib dunes.
Plan your visit
Every site mentioned is plotted, with opening hours and accessibility notes, on our interactive map.
Explore on the map
Use the interactive map to filter by country, mineral and accessibility — or to find the closest mining heritage site to wherever you happen to be.