Tombstone AZ – The best ghost town in the US
February 9, 2008 – 9:48 am
The best ghost town in the US
Arizona Resorts/ Arizona Travel Deals / Arizona Golf
I’m taking my family on a fly-drive holiday next year. We are visiting California, Nevada and Arizona, and I’d like to visit a ghost town. Is there a particularly atmospheric one that you would recommend?
70 miles south east of Tucson, Arizona, you’ll find the former silver mining town of Tombstone so called because the first prospector was told all he’d find there was his own tombstone. He struck it lucky, so wryly named the town himself. It’s famous as the site of a certain livery stable known as the O.K Corral, and the eponymous gun-based squabble that took place here on October 26, 1881, is now re-enacted in full-costumed fury, every day.
In a similar vein is Calico in the Mojave Desert – another silver mining town, this time founded in 1881, but by 1960 the population had dwindled away. It was bought by Walter Knott, who restored much of the town and then donated it to the state.
Both of the above towns are run as theme parks: lots of fun for kids, with mine tours, stunt shows, gold panning, themed shops and restaurants, but if you are looking for a more authentic feel, try Jerome, Arizona. Near to Sedona Red Rock Canyon, a road snakes up the mountainside to this once bustling copper mining settlement. It was home to 15,000 people, but now the rickety old town has less than 500, who mostly survive on the tourist trade.
There are a couple of good museums and a handful of small B&B’s, with enough dilapidated hosing and spook-factor to give you a chill come evening time.
Arizona Resorts/ Arizona Travel Deals / Arizona Golf
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