Strolling St. Elmo Ghost Town

‘Tis spooky season - let’s explore St. Elmo Ghost Town, a late 19th-century mining town located in central Colorado (about 20 miles southwest of Buena Vista). St Elmo is considered a ghost town, and I’ll be referring to it as such, but technically it’s not entirely abandoned. There are a couple dozen full timers and even more summer residents in the area. Still, St. Elmo has all the gumption of a ghost town - forty well-preserved century-old cobwebby buildings lining a dirt main street.

St Elmo was established in the early-1880s as a mining town, and reached peak residency in the 1890s at around 2,000 people. The town wasn’t actually around for that long due to multiple fires, lack of accessibility by train, and the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893. It didn’t take long for many of the townspeople to start moving out after a series of setbacks. Many of the remaining buildings today were rebuilt after the town’s second fire in the late 1890s.

Of the remaining buildings, the General Store is a must see. Not only does it have standard souvenirs, but it also sells antiques from in and around the town. Right outside the store is the adorable chipmunk crossing. Pick up a small packet of seeds and hand feed the scurries of chipmunks who call this ghost town home. Keep in mind, the shop is only open during summer months.

You can also stay in one of the preserved cabins or grab a room at the Ghost Town Guest House but I’m going to keep my visits to daylight hours for now since I’m a scaredy-chipmunk.

BEFORE YOU GO:

• The road into town is not paved, and climbs steadily for 12ish-miles before emptying visitors onto the main drag. High clearance vehicles are recommended.

• There are no bathrooms in town. A few miles before you reach St. Elmo is a pull off with latrines.

• St Elmo and surrounding areas are well known for its UHV/off road trail systems. You’ll see lots of ATVs zipping around.