20 BEST GHOST TOWNS IN ARIZONA YOU SHOULD VISIT

Good to know: Goldfield is open year-round; shops/attractions generally run around 10am–5pm. Some attractions (like the mine tour) are ticketed.

Goldfield official info →

RUBY

2026 update: Ruby is a privately owned ghost town that is currently closed to the public (closure announced June 3, 2024). Before you plan a drive, check the official site for the latest status.

Official Ruby status update →

Instead (same region, actually visitable): do the Cochise County Ghost Town Trail stops like Fairbank (BLM historic townsite) and Gleeson (restored jail + ruins) as your “real ghost town fix.”

Ruby is one of Arizona’s most famous ghost towns, but right now the most important planning fact is simple: it is currently closed to the public. That means Ruby works less as an active trip idea and more as part of the state’s larger ghost-town story unless the official access status changes.

Before the closure, Ruby stood out because it was one of the best-preserved and most atmospheric mining camps in Southern Arizona, with a reputation shaped by both its mining history and its darker stories. It is still worth knowing about, but not worth planning around unless the official site confirms visitors are being allowed in again.

If you want a similar Southern Arizona ghost-town fix that you can actually do now, Fairbank, Gleeson-area stops, Tombstone, and Bisbee are all stronger real-world trip choices.

OATMAN

Oatman is one of the best Arizona ghost-town stops for Route 66 travelers who want an easy, photogenic detour rather than a deep historical site. It is dusty, weird, very tourist-friendly, and absolutely memorable in that “yes, this is delightfully ridiculous” kind of way.

Once a gold-mining town, Oatman now leans into its Route 66 identity, with wooden sidewalks, staged Wild West energy, old storefronts, and the burros that wander through town looking like they own the place. If your goal is quick atmosphere, fun photos, and a stop that feels iconic without requiring much effort, Oatman delivers.

It is one of the most-visited Arizona ghost towns, with nearly half a million visitors visiting to relive the golden days yearly.

Oatman is not the best pick if you want a quiet or especially “authentic ruins” ghost-town stop. It is the better choice if you want Route 66 character, easy access, and a half-day stop that feels lively instead of abandoned.

Another notable feature of Oatman is the friendly wild burros wandering the streets.

Among the top attractions you should visit is the Oatman Hotel, a two-storey adobe hotel which survived the fire of 1921 and is also believed to be haunted.

There is a restaurant, saloon, and gift shop on the premises.

Two Guns

Two Guns is one of the best Arizona ghost-town stops for Route 66 travelers who like eerie, half-collapsed places with a lot of story baked into the landscape. Set near Canyon Diablo between Flagstaff and Winslow, it feels more unsettling than charming, which is exactly why it stands out.

This is not the place to come for a polished town center or a tidy museum-style visit. The appeal is the layered history: old Route 66 remains, ruined buildings, the abandoned bridge area, and the darker stories that still cling to the site. If you like your ghost towns weird, windy, and a little rough around the edges, Two Guns is one of the most memorable stops on this list.

Two Guns works best as a short Route 66 detour rather than a full standalone destination. Come for the atmosphere, the roadside-history energy, and the canyon setting, not for a long, structured visit.

CHLORIDE

Chloride is one of the best Arizona ghost-town-style stops for travelers who want something quieter, scrappier, and less touristy than the bigger-name Wild West towns.

Near Kingman in the Cerbat Mountains, it still feels lived-in, but it also holds onto enough mining-town character to make the stop feel worthwhile.

Founded as a silver camp in the 1860s, Chloride never fully emptied out the way many Arizona mining towns did. That is part of what makes it interesting now.

You can still walk old streets, see historic buildings, browse local oddities, and get a stronger sense of continuity than you do in places that are only preserved as museum-style attractions.

Chloride is best for travelers who like offbeat places, quirky roadside stops, and historic towns that feel more local than curated. It works especially well as part of a Kingman, Route 66, or western Arizona loop.

And it is also one of the less-crowded towns, so if you want to avoid the touristy AZ ghost towns, you will love Chloride for its more authentic charms.

Do you know? Many old buildings on the main street area feature in popular movies and music videos, as Chloride is one of the famous filming locations in AZ.

I recommend you stop at the famous Purcell Murals, a series of colourful murals running for a mile and a half along the dirt road up the mountain.

CASTLE DOME

Get transported back in time to the days of the gold rush of the 19th-century Wild West with a trip to the ghost town of Castle Dome City at the Castle Dome Mine Museum, one of the top things to do in Yuma AZ.

Castle Dome is one of the strongest Arizona ghost-town stops for travelers who want a larger historic site that still feels substantial once they arrive. Near Yuma, it combines ghost-town atmosphere with museum-style access, which makes it easier to appreciate than some of the more scattered ruin fields on this list.

What sets Castle Dome apart is scale. You are not just stopping for one abandoned building and a quick photo. You get a fuller old mining-town setting, restored structures, artifacts, and the option to add a mine tour if you want more than a basic walk-through.

Castle Dome is best for travelers who want a ghost town that feels organized, educational, and genuinely worth building a half day around. It is a stronger fit for history lovers and families than for people chasing remote-desert ruin energy.

Explore the buildings, including homes, original saloons, blacksmith shops, general stores, hotels, a bank, post office, and shops.

Stop at the church, home to unique artefacts, to learn more about the town’s history, which was eventually abandoned in 1978

You can choose from various experiences, from a self-guided walking town tour to a more adventurous underground mine tour.

Check out some authentic artefacts, ancient tools, gems and mining equipment from the mines below on these tours, one of the top Yuma attractions you can enjoy with your kids.

Hours: Typically Oct 15–Apr 15 daily 10am–5pm. In summer, you usually need to call ahead.

Admission: Town walking tour pricing is listed on the official site.

Castle Dome official hours/pricing →

PRESCOTT

Prescott is the outlier on this list, but it still earns a place if your version of a ghost-town stop leans more haunted-history town than abandoned mining ruins. If you want Old West atmosphere, historic buildings, and a walkable downtown with ghost stories still attached to it, Prescott works better than people expect.

The appeal here is not “empty ghost town” energy. It is Whiskey Row, Victorian architecture, the Palace Saloon, and the sense that Prescott still carries its frontier-era past right on the surface. That makes it a strong choice for travelers who like history with nightlife, architecture, and a more comfortable small-city base.

Prescott is best for travelers who want haunted history and Wild West mood without giving up restaurants, bars, and an easy overnight setup. It is less about ruins and more about a living historic town with the right stories still clinging to it.

One of the popular places known for its ghostly history is the famous Palace Saloon, established in 1877.

This intricately decorated heritage structure, now a popular bar, is known for being haunted by spirits, including former guests of the saloon.

You can join one of the many night tours in Prescott that will take you through its eerie past as you explore many haunted neighbourhoods filled with landmarks home to ghosts and grim tales.

OFFBEAT GHOST TOWNS IN ARIZONA

VULTURE CITY

Vulture City is one of the strongest ghost-town picks near Phoenix if you want a site that still feels substantial once you arrive. Set near Wickenburg on the grounds of the old Vulture Mine, it gives you restored buildings, mining history, and a more organized visit than many of Arizona’s harder-to-access ghost towns.

The town grew around one of the richest gold discoveries in Arizona and later declined after mining shut down in the 1940s. Today, the appeal is not just the history itself, but how much of the site still gives you a sense of scale.

This is a good pick if you want a ghost town that feels visitable, understandable, and easy to pair with a broader desert road trip.

Stroll through rustic streets lined with saloons, gas stations, brothels, homes, hotels, offices, storehouses, 

I recommend signing up for guided tours on the weekends to explore the 300-year-old ironwood tree, located near Henry Wickenburg’s cabin, where 18 men were sentenced to hang to death. 

The cabin and many areas in the town are rumoured to be haunted.

CROWN KING

One of the offbeat ghost towns in Arizona is located atop the Bradshaw Mountains.

Crown King is one of the better offbeat Arizona mining-town picks if you want the drive to feel like part of the experience. High in the Bradshaw Mountains, it is less polished than Jerome or Tombstone and more about the sense of remoteness, mountain setting, and old-mining-town atmosphere.

This is not the easiest ghost-town stop on the list, which is exactly why some travelers will love it. If you want something rougher around the edges and more adventurous than the big-name tourist towns, Crown King has a stronger payoff than the typical “quick photo stop and go.”

Crown King is best for travelers who already like scenic drives, small mountain towns, and slightly scrappier historic stops. I would not make it your first Arizona ghost-town experience, but it is a strong second- or third-trip pick if you want something less obvious.

Among the top landmarks is the Crown King Saloon on Main Street, constructed in the 1890s.

After checking out the galleries containing rare collections of the mining past, savour the best food and beer here

Stop at the General Store and the red-brick schoolhouse. There are some newly added trails if you want to hike, go mountain biking or horseback riding. 

GLEESON

If you are already doing Tombstone or Bisbee, Gleeson is one of the easiest extra ghost-town stops to layer into the day without much extra driving.

Gleeson is one of the better Southern Arizona ghost-town stops for travelers who want a quieter, more offbeat add-on near Tombstone rather than a big headline destination. It works best as part of a Cochise County ghost-town trail, not as the only stop on your day.

Originally called Turquoise, Gleeson first grew around turquoise mining before copper, lead, and zinc discoveries helped the town expand again in the early 1900s. Like many Arizona mining towns, it rose quickly and faded once demand dropped. What makes it interesting now is the mix of surviving pieces still scattered across the area, including the jail, old school, cemetery, and other remnants that hint at what the town once was.

Gleeson is best for travelers who already plan to do Tombstone, Bisbee, or Fairbank and want one more lesser-known stop with real ghost-town texture. It is not polished, but that is part of the appeal.

FAIRBANK

Fairbank, named for Nathaniel Fairbank of Chicago, who financed the railroad, was once a bustling railroad town and the closest train depot to Tucson and Tombstone and the nearest stagecoach station to Bisbee.

Fairbank is one of the best Arizona ghost towns for travelers who want a more genuinely abandoned feel without trespassing, sketchy access, or guesswork. It is now a BLM-managed historic townsite inside the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.

If you want a ghost town that feels quieter, less commercial, and more like a real historic site than a themed attraction, Fairbank is one of the strongest picks in Southern Arizona.

See the remains of a general store, saloons, butcher shop, post office, quartz mill, stable, railroad bridges and platforms, and a Wells Fargo office. 

Visit the small schoolhouse that has been turned into a museum by the BLM to learn more about the town and the area surrounding it.

Why Fairbank is awesome: it’s a BLM-managed historic “ghost town” inside the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, so it’s one of the easiest “real ghost town” stops to do legally and safely.

BLM Fairbank townsite info →

AGUA CALIENTE

Agua Caliente is one of the more unusual ghost-town stops in Arizona because its story is tied to hot springs and resort history rather than a classic mining boom. Near Hyder in western Arizona, it feels more like a forgotten desert retreat than a textbook Wild West ghost town.

Long before it faded, Agua Caliente drew visitors to its natural hot springs, and by the late 1800s it had developed into a small resort destination with a hotel and spring-fed pool. What makes the stop interesting now is not big headline attractions, but the contrast between its former reputation as a getaway and the sparse remains left in the desert today.

Agua Caliente is best for travelers who like lesser-known Arizona history and do not mind a stop that is quieter, smaller, and more about imagination than a long list of things to do on-site.

TIP TOP

Tip Top is one of the better Arizona ghost-town picks for travelers who want a rougher, less polished mining-site stop near Phoenix. Northwest of the city, it feels more remote and more ruin-focused than easy tourist stops like Goldfield.

Founded after rich silver discoveries in the 1870s, Tip Top grew fast and briefly became one of Arizona’s more active mining communities. Like many boomtowns, that success did not last long. What remains now is the appeal of the setting itself: old mining traces, scattered ruins, and the feeling that you are visiting a place that was built fast and then faded just as quickly.

Tip Top is best for people who already know they enjoy old mining remains, rougher access, and less-structured exploration. It is not the best first ghost town on this list, but it is a strong follow-up pick for travelers who want something less commercial.

KENTUCKY CAMP

Kentucky Camp is one of the best Arizona ghost-town stops for travelers who want a smaller, quieter historic site with preserved buildings rather than a sprawling ruin field. In the Sonoita area, it feels more low-key and interpretive than theatrical, which makes it a good fit for people who like history without a lot of tourist packaging.

Born out of a short-lived gold rush in the late 1800s, Kentucky Camp never became one of Arizona’s biggest mining towns, but that is part of its appeal now. What survives is manageable, easy to explore, and still gives you a real sense of place. The preserved adobe buildings and open setting make it one of the more approachable ghost-town stops in Southern Arizona.

Kentucky Camp is best for travelers who want a quieter stop they can pair with Sonoita, Patagonia, or a wider Southern Arizona scenic drive. It is less dramatic than Jerome or Tombstone, but more peaceful and easier to absorb at your own pace.

Listed on the U.S. National Register Of Historic Places since 1995 and run by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Kentucky Camp is worth stopping by, although it was a short-lived mining town.

Explore the remains in the town on a short walk. Kentucky Camp is a popular place for mountain biking and hiking. You can also enjoy camping on the site with the proper permits.

Run by the US Forest Service: Kentucky Camp sits in the Coronado National Forest and has preserved adobe buildings (and sometimes cabin stays through official channels).

USFS Kentucky Camp info →

NOTHING

Nothing is one of the offbeat ghost towns in Arizona,

Nothing is one of Arizona’s strangest roadside ghost-town stops, and the joke is part of the appeal. On US-93 between Wickenburg and Wikieup, it is the kind of place you visit because the name is absurd, the stop is quick, and the desert around it makes the whole thing feel even weirder.

Unlike the classic mining boomtowns on this list, Nothing is not about deep frontier history or a long list of preserved buildings. It is a younger, more novelty-driven stop built around a tiny roadside settlement that later emptied out. That means the payoff here is more about atmosphere, signage, and the “we really pulled over for this” energy than a major historic experience.

Nothing works best as a fast photo stop or conversation piece on a longer western Arizona drive. Do not build a whole day around it, but absolutely enjoy the name while you are there.

HACKBERRY

Hackberry is one of the easiest Route 66 ghost-town-style stops in Arizona if you want nostalgia without needing a long detour. The old general store is the star here, and the stop works more as a preserved roadside memory than a full ghost town you explore for hours.

Hackberry began as a mining town in the 1870s and later shifted into a Route 66-era stop, which is part of why it feels different from the mining-only towns on this list. Today, the draw is the mix of old signs, gas pumps, classic cars, and Route 66 atmosphere packed into one compact, photogenic stop.

Hackberry is best for travelers doing a Route 66 drive who want something easy, iconic, and fast. Come for the photos, the vintage roadside mood, and the historic-store energy, not for a long, immersive ghost-town visit.

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