Rain soaked my map as I tried to wipe the water off my compass to figure out where I was. Suddenly, I was no longer a writer, but an expeditioner, an explorer headed to the remnants of pioneer towns past.
It took me a few minutes to gain my bearings, but I trekked on and stumbled into a set of what once was old buildings. Only the foundations of the buildings remained in the middle of the hot Utah desert. The closest town to me had just one gas station and a diner.
Suddenly, I was hooked. Before I knew it, I was spending my weekends off of school researching ghost towns like Thistle, Grafton and others — and when I could, I would drive out to them and explore. It quickly became my quirky hobby.
Luckily for me, in the Beehive State, there are a lot of ghost towns.
For those who haven’t encountered one before, a ghost town is an abandoned town that used to be populated. Some in the state of Utah are on private property now (so I avoided those), but I made it a goal to visit every ghost town that I could in Utah.
In my opinion, this is the best kind of road trip. Sometimes visiting them involves hiking, other times it involves using map and a compass (not a phone because you have no reception) and it always involves a positive attitude and an adventure.
If you’re looking to visit some ghost towns, here are my tips.
Research ghost towns beforehand
You will want to visit ghost towns both legally and safely.
Start by searching “ghost towns in Utah” and then find a couple that you would want to visit (Grafton and Frisco are great places to start). Visit Utah also gives great suggestions of ghost towns to visit. Search the name of the town and find information about its location. I recommend writing down coordinates.
A lot of the time, ghost town websites will tell you whether or not a town is on public or private property, but it’s also important to pay attention to signage.
Research the history of the town before you visit, too. Knowing who lived there and what they did can enrich the ghost town visiting experience.
Pack and prepare well
If you’re going to visit a ghost town, I recommend a couple of things. Bring water, a portable phone charger, a map of the area, a compass and a flashlight. It’s important to be prepared because you’ll be going into areas that don’t have cellphone reception.
Always write down the coordinates of a ghost town because those might be more useful than the address given.
Take pictures, but also make observations
When I visit ghost towns, I’ve snapped a lot of photographs, but the most meaningful part for me has been making observations.
Since I’ve read about the history of the towns beforehand, I’ve already got a good grasp of what the town once looked like. That makes looking at the ruins and imagining where each of the buildings used to be a fun, creative and enriching process for me.
Visit the small towns around them
Some of the most interesting places in Utah are near ghost towns. I’ve visited Fillmore, Delta, Spring City, Eureka and other towns because they were on my way to or from a ghost town and I’ve found them fascinating as well.
While they’re not ghost towns, they have a rich history and have some older historic buildings and sites as well that could be easy to miss if you just looked for the most popular historical sites in Utah.
Why I visit ghost towns
I started visiting ghost towns because I had spent a fair amount of time visiting historical sites in Utah and started to notice the names of towns that I hadn’t visited before. The prospect of visiting a ghost town seemed daunting to me at first, given that I am directionally challenged and grew up in the age of having maps on my phone.
But I quickly learned that it was worthwhile.
I felt like my understanding and knowledge of Utah history was broadened by these visits. Not only that, but I found myself asking more questions about how the environment impacts where people can live.
If you’re looking for something to do this upcoming spring and summer, visiting ghost towns in Utah might be a fun hobby.