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State hub · New Mexico
Most of New Mexico's ghost towns were mining camps: gold and silver towns in the southwestern mountains like Lake Valley, Chloride and Mogollon, lead and zinc at Kelly, gold at White Oaks and Elizabethtown, and coal company towns such as Dawson and Madrid. Others were railroad stops like Steins and San Marcial, Route 66 towns like Glenrio and Montoya, and farming villages along the Rio Grande, some wiped out by floods and others drowned when Elephant Butte Reservoir began filling in 1915.
They cluster in four areas: the mining districts of Sierra, Grant and Catron counties in the southwest, the coal and gold country of Colfax County in the northeast, the Turquoise Trail between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and the eastern plains. Roosevelt County, on the Texas line, has 103 sites in our index, more than any other county. Its population fell from 12,064 in 1910 to 6,548 in 1920.
What survives varies a lot. Madrid came back as an artists' town. Lake Valley is looked after by the Bureau of Land Management, and Shakespeare by the family that bought it in 1935. Many others are down to stone walls, like Elizabethtown, or a cemetery, like Dawson.
Town guides
Our complete guides, most-read first: history, what's left, current access, photos, maps and directions.
GuideSanta Fe County
Madrid’s coal company town nearly emptied after the mines closed. Artists and residents brought its wooden houses back into use.
GuideColfax County
A Phelps Dodge coal town of about 6,000 people, where two explosions killed nearly 400 miners. The town is gone. Its cemetery, with rows of white…
GuideLincoln County
A gold town of a few thousand people that refused the railroad's terms and lost it to Carrizozo. A few residents remain among its brick and stone…
GuideCatron County
A gold and silver camp of about 2,000 people in 1909, strung along a narrow canyon in the Gila country. A few caretakers live there, and a cafe, a…
GuideGuadalupe County
A railroad and ranch town that Route 66 kept alive and Interstate 40 cut in two. A handful of people still live here among dozens of empty stone and…
GuideSanta Fe County
A railroad and sawmill village at the summit of Glorieta Pass, on the first Route 66. It lost its mills, its stores and the highway, and about 500…
GuideColfax County
E-town rose after the 1866 gold discoveries and briefly became Colfax County’s seat. Stone walls and a cemetery outlasted the mining town.
GuideHidalgo County
A stage stop that became a silver camp, then a ranch. The Hill family and their relatives have kept its buildings since 1935, and you see them on a…
GuideHidalgo County
A railroad town that lived on water hauled in by train, until the trains stopped bringing it in 1944. Its owners gave tours for two decades. Since…
GuideQuay County
A railroad and cattle stop that lived on Route 66 traffic, then lost it to I-40. Its landmark, the red sandstone Richardson Store, lost its roof in…
Bernalillo County
A homestead-era post office and roadside stop in the East Mountains, on Route 66 from 1937. The store, the cabins and the post office are gone, and…
Cibola County
One of the six villages of the Pueblo of Laguna, in the Rio San Jose valley a mile south of Route 66. It lost its post office in 1932, and about 480…
GuideSocorro County
A lead, silver and zinc camp in a gulch above Magdalena that held close to 3,000 people around 1900 and was empty by 1947. The church of St. John the…
GuideSierra County
A silver town made famous by the Bridal Chamber, a cave of nearly pure silver. The 1893 crash and an 1895 fire ended the boom, manganese kept a few…
Watch
Silver camps, mountain streets, and the buildings they left behind. Explore the history, maps and access notes before you go.
Where to start
Open attractions, living towns and true ruins, with their current status.
Hidalgo County
Stage stop turned silver camp three miles south of Lordsburg, looked after by the Hill family and their relatives since 1935. Seen on guided tours; call ahead.
Sierra County
Silver town founded in 1878, whose Bridal Chamber yielded about 2.5 million ounces. The BLM keeps a restored schoolhouse and chapel; entry is free.
Catron County
Gold and silver camp in Silver Creek Canyon with about 2,000 people in 1909. Its museum, cafe and shops open in the warm months, mostly on weekends; the cafe closed for the 2026 season on October 18.
Colfax County
Phelps Dodge coal town of about 6,000 people in 1913. Explosions in 1913 and 1923 killed nearly 400 miners. Only the cemetery is open to the public.
Colfax County
Gold town of 1866 and New Mexico's first incorporated town, off NM 38 north of Eagle Nest. Stone walls of the Mutz Hotel and a hillside cemetery remain.
Lincoln County
Gold camp 12 miles northeast of Carrizozo that faded after the railroad passed it by. Brown's Store, the Hoyle House and an 1895 brick schoolhouse still stand.
Socorro County
Lead, zinc and silver camp of nearly 3,000 people just south of Magdalena, empty since 1947. A church and a 121-foot headframe stand; much of the land is private.
Santa Fe County
Coal company town on the Turquoise Trail that emptied when mining ended in 1954. Artists moved in later; 247 people lived there in 2020.
Quay County
Railroad siding and Route 66 stop on the Texas line, left behind when Interstate 40 bypassed it in the 1970s. Seen from the old roadbed.
Near a city
Driving distance and time from downtown, routed over OpenStreetMap roads. Dirt roads are usually slower than the estimate.
Directory
Every town, camp and settlement in our New Mexico index, with its county. A ◦ marks sites already on the map.
No sites match. Try fewer letters or another county.
Plan a trip
Temperatures at desert sites like Lake Valley can be extreme, so make sure the car's air conditioning works in summer. The monsoon, usually early July to mid-September, brings lightning and flash floods that can fill dry washes and cut dirt roads. The high camps are a different trip: Elizabethtown sits at 8,485 feet, and Mogollon's cafe and shops open only in the warm months, mostly on weekends; the cafe closed for 2026 on October 18.
State highways reach Lake Valley (NM 27), Elizabethtown (NM 38) and Madrid (NM 14). The road to Mogollon is rough enough that a high-clearance vehicle is recommended, and the last stretch to the Dawson cemetery is dirt. Directions to Kelly are vague enough that the state tourism site says to ask in Magdalena. Cell coverage is patchy or absent at many sites, so carry water and an offline map.
Many sites are private. Shakespeare is a private ranch seen on guided tours, much of Kelly is privately owned, and at Dawson only the cemetery is open to the public. New Mexico State Trust land needs a recreational access permit from the State Land Office, $35 a year. Lake Valley, on Bureau of Land Management land, is free and open Thursday to Monday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The state's abandoned mine program counts more than 15,000 old mine features, from shallow pits to 500-foot shafts. Stay out. On federal land, digging up or removing artifacts can break the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, and metal detectors and vehicles used can be confiscated. Excavating on state land, or disturbing an unmarked grave anywhere in the state, needs a permit under New Mexico's Cultural Properties Act.
FAQ
New Mexico's tourism department puts the number at more than 400. Our index lists 587 sites. Roosevelt County has the most, with 103, followed by Colfax County with 53.
For buildings you can walk through, Lake Valley is the easiest: the Bureau of Land Management has restored its schoolhouse and chapel, and entry is free. Shakespeare, near Lordsburg, has original buildings on a private ranch, shown on guided tours. Mogollon, a mountain mining town in the Gila National Forest, has a museum and a cafe that open on weekends in the warm months; the cafe closed for 2026 on October 18.
Golden and Madrid, on the Turquoise Trail (NM 14) northeast of the city, are under an hour and just over an hour from downtown. Kelly, just south of Magdalena, is a little over two hours southwest, and White Oaks a little over three hours southeast.
Only the cemetery. The Nature Conservancy bought the 50,000-acre ranch around the old townsite in December 2025, and the cemetery, on the National Register of Historic Places since 1992, is the only public access. Identical white iron crosses mark the graves of nearly 400 miners killed in the 1913 and 1923 explosions. Former residents and their families hold reunions on the townsite every other Labor Day weekend.
Yes, by guided tour. As of October 2024 the caretaker ran three tours a day, at 10 a.m., noon and 3 p.m., and asked visitors to call 575-542-9034 ahead. The town is on a private ranch about three miles south of Lordsburg, bought by Frank and Rita Hill in 1935 and still in their family's care.
Many are. Shakespeare and Steins are privately owned, and much of Kelly is private, including the lot with the church. Treat gates and posted signs as closed. Public options include Lake Valley, run by the Bureau of Land Management, and the Dawson cemetery. State Trust land needs a $35 annual recreational access permit.
Abandoned 