Abandoned Towns
Aerial view of Gilmore's street grid on the sagebrush flat at the foot of the forested Lemhi Range

Silver mining town · Railroad and road town

Gilmore

A lead and silver town at the head of the Lemhi Valley that grew around the end of a Montana railroad, then emptied when the Depression closed its mines. Old frame buildings stand among a few restored cabins.

44°27′32″N 113°16′11″W · ≈7,170 ft

Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain). See the photographs in the gallery below.

Part-time cabins · private buildings

In a visit video posted January 11, 2026, the mercantile is boarded up and signed as private property, and a sign in town asks visitors not to go into any of the buildings, since they may be private, while welcoming them to look around. The creator says the town has no services and no cell signal, and that its houses are mostly weekend and vacation cabins. A video posted October 2, 2026 shows the same boarded mercantile beside the gravel street. Look from the roads, and keep out of the posted mine sites west of town.

Overview

The end of the line in the Lemhi Valley

Gilmore sits at about 7,170 feet where the Lemhi Range meets the head of the Lemhi Valley, just off Idaho 28 between Idaho Falls and Salmon. Lead and silver ore came out of the mountains to the west from the 1880s. The Hilltop Mine sent large shipments to the smelter at Nicholia, and when that smelter burned, the work stopped. Milling the ore near the mines was tried and failed.

The first cabins went up in 1902, the year the post office opened. Its name honors stage operator John T. "Jack" Gilmer; the spelling is a postal error that was never fixed. The town grew slowly because hauling was so costly. A steam tractor tried to drag ore three days across the desert to the railroad at Dubois, and its wagons fell apart. Wikipedia counts 50 people in 1909. Everything changed in 1910, when the Gilmore and Pittsburgh Railroad came over from Armstead, Montana, and stopped here. The town moved from the mine sites to the station and, by IDAHO magazine's count, reached about 1,000 people in the 1920s. EastIdahoNews gives a peak of 600.

The Depression ended it. The big mines closed around 1929, the railroad took up its tracks and people left. The post office closed in 1957, and five people were counted in 1960. The Hilltop Mine was worked now and then until 1963. Today the Lemhi County Historical Society has put up signs and preserved the mercantile, and a few of the old houses have been restored as vacation homes.

Timeline

Mines, a railroad and the Depression

  1. Ore from the Hilltop and other lodes in the Lemhi Range goes by wagon and mule team to the smelter at Nicholia. Local attempts to mill it fail, and shipping stops when the Nicholia smelter burns.
  2. The first cabins go up near the lead and silver mines, and a post office opens. It is named for stage man John T. "Jack" Gilmer; a postal error gives it the spelling Gilmore.
  3. Recorded work begins at the Brown Bull Mine (1903) and the Mountain Boy (1905).
  4. Gilmore has 50 people, by Wikipedia's count.
  5. The Gilmore and Pittsburgh Railroad reaches town from Armstead, Montana, and ore goes out by rail.
  6. The town has moved from the mine sites to the station a third of a mile east and reaches about 1,000 people, by IDAHO magazine's account. EastIdahoNews gives 600.
  7. The Depression closes the major mines. The railroad pulls up its tracks and the town empties.
  8. The post office closes.
  9. Five people live in Gilmore.
  10. The last recorded production at the Hilltop Mine, worked off and on since the 1880s.

What's left

What you'll see

IDAHO magazine's writer, on visits in July 2019 and July 2020, found several historic wood-frame buildings, the mercantile preserved by the Lemhi County Historical Society, and the society's history signs. Some lots hold trailers and some buildings are restored vacation homes. Two visit videos from 2026 show the same picture: the red-sided mercantile boarded with plywood, a history kiosk with old photographs, gravel streets, trailers and RVs, and frame buildings in every stage of collapse. EastIdahoNews in July 2023 described the remnants of a town of 600 that once had hotels, a mercantile, a bank and a post office, and the Salmon Valley visitor site says about 40 buildings still stand. The Gilmore Pioneer Cemetery, kept up and marked with a sign, is on a limestone ridge about half a mile west of town.

The mines are in the hills to the west. The Hilltop Mine is a patented claim whose owners allowed visitors at the time of that report; the Mountain Boy and most other mine sites were posted "No Trespassing." Stay out of open workings.

On the historic maps below, the 1957 Gilmore sheet shows the town's grid of streets east of the mountains, with the Mountain Boy, Latest Out and Iron Dyke mines and a cemetery up the gulches to the west. The 1987 sheet marks the cemetery, mine shafts, adits and prospects across the slope west of town, and the abandoned railroad grade to the east. The 1989 sheet names the Hilltop, Brown Bull, Ridgeway and Latest Out mines, with Gilmore Summit to the south and the old railroad grade east of town.

  • Wood-frame houses and stores
  • Mercantile, preserved by the Lemhi County Historical Society
  • Hotel
  • Historical signs
  • Gilmore Pioneer Cemetery, half a mile west
  • Mine sites in the hills (mostly posted)
  • Gilmore and Pittsburgh railroad grade
USGS topographic map of Gilmore's street grid between Liberty Gulch and Shortys Gulch
USGS The National Map, topo. Gilmore's grid of streets, with Liberty and Federal gulches to the west and Shortys Gulch to the southeast. Copper Street crosses the south side of town.
Aerial view of Gilmore's mostly empty street grid on the sagebrush flat below forested hills
Aerial imagery, same area. A wide grid of dirt streets with scattered buildings, and the access road across the bottom.

Historic maps

Gilmore on USGS maps, 1955–1989

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Gilmore, 1955
Dubois sheet, 1955, 1:250,000 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

Salmon is the nearest city with full services, an hour and a half north up the Lemhi Valley on Idaho 28. From Idaho Falls, the route takes I-15 north and Idaho 33 west, then Idaho 28 north through the desert to the Gilmore turnoff.

USGS topographic map of the upper Lemhi Valley and the Lemhi Range around Gilmore, with routes drawn on it

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

From downtown Salmon64.3 miabout 1 h 26 min
  1. From South Center Street in Salmon, turn right onto Main Street, US 93.1.2 mi
  2. Continue straight onto ID 28 and follow it south up the Lemhi Valley through Leadore.61.5 mi
  3. Turn right onto Gilmore Road, which becomes Forest Road 002, into town.1.5 mi
  4. Turn right to the townsite.0.1 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • Gilmore is about 1.5 miles off ID 28 by Gilmore Road. IDAHO magazine notes that the highway gives year-round access.
  • The road into town is rated 2WD; the streets are gravel in the 2026 videos. The mine roads up the gulches to the west are steeper and mostly posted.
  • Fuel, food and lodging: plan on Salmon. The route passes Leadore on the way.

Photos

Gilmore in photos

Visitor reports

Been to Gilmore?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Gilmore

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Idaho index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. Rexburg Historical Society, "Gilmore 1980" scans #267 to #269 on Flickr (CC BY 2.0, licence checked October 28, 2026): the three gallery photos of the town in 1980.
  2. ghosttowns.com, "Gilmore": county, 2WD road, climate, the failed milling, the Nicholia smelter, the 1910 railroad, the 1929 closures, the hotel.
  3. Wikipedia, "Gilmore, Idaho", retrieved October 2026: coordinates, the 1902 to 1957 post office, the Gilmer name, 50 people in 1909 and 5 in 1960.
  4. Ray Brooks, IDAHO magazine, "Gilmore's Mines", on visits in July 2019 and July 2020: the 1902 cabins, the steam tractor, the Hilltop, Mountain Boy, Brown Bull and Portland mines and their dates, the 1910 railroad, the move to the station and 1,000 people in the 1920s, the remains, trailers and vacation homes, the historical society's signs and mercantile, the cemetery, the posted mines, the elevation and year-round access.
  5. Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews, "7 must-see historic sites in eastern Idaho", July 13, 2023: the town of 600 and its hotels, mercantile, bank and post office.
  6. Visit Salmon Valley, "Ghost Towns", read October 2026: about 40 buildings standing, the Gilmore and Pittsburgh line, desertion in the Depression.
  7. Dave Explores, "The Most Unusual Still Living Ghost Town; Where Is Everybody? Gilmore, IDAHO!", YouTube, posted January 11, 2026 (not embedded: the creator enters buildings a town sign asks visitors to stay out of): the boarded mercantile and private-property sign, the sign asking visitors not to enter buildings, no services or cell signal, part-time cabins, the upper and lower cemetery.
  8. Cooper's Corner, "The Ghost Towns of Eastern Idaho, Gilmore & Leadore", YouTube, posted October 2, 2026 (not embedded; Gilmore is a short part of it): the boarded mercantile, the history kiosk, the gravel streets and the standing frame buildings.
  9. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits