Abandoned Record
About Best
Best is an unincorporated community in southwestern Reagan County in the western part of the U.S. state of Texas. It was portrayed in the Clyde Ragsdale novel The Big Fist.
This is a site record: what public sources say about Best, gathered in one place. We haven't written a full guide yet, so history, current access and photos are still to come. Treat the status as unknown until a guide confirms it.
Map
Where Best is
Historic maps
6 historic USGS maps cover Best
Topographic sheets from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain), oldest first. Older sheets often show the camp, mines and roads while the place was alive. The downloads are large map scans; USGS topoView shows them in the browser.
- 1928 Rankin sheet, 1:125,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1954 San Angelo sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1958 San Angelo sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1965 San Angelo sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1970 Best sheet, 1:24,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1986 Big Lake sheet, 1:100,000 · GeoTIFF download
Directions
Getting there
Before you go
- Many ghost town sites are on private land, active mining claims or tribal land. Check land status and ask permission.
- Roads to old townsites are often unmaintained dirt. Map apps may route over closed or impassable tracks.
- Removing artifacts from public land is illegal under federal and most state laws.
Nearby
Other sites near Best
Straight-line distance to other mapped sites in our Texas index.
Sources
Sources
- ghosttowns.com, "Best": county, roads, climate, best time to visit, remains.
- Wikipedia, "Best, Texas": coordinates and summary.
- Wikidata Q4896528.
- USGS GNIS 1379411.
- USGS 3D Elevation Program, elevation at the coordinates.
- USGS The National Map and Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain).