12 Best Ghost Towns in Arizona to Visit This 2025

The Ghost Towns of the Southwest

Arizona’s best ghost towns aren’t just empty buildings collecting dust. They’re gold mines frozen in time, saloons where you can still hear bar stools scraping across wooden floors, and old brothels where the wallpaper’s peeling just right.

Here are 12 spots where the Wild West decided to hit pause.

Ruby

Ruby sits just four miles from Mexico and is one of Arizona’s best-kept ghost towns. Gold, silver, and lead mining made it southwest Arizona’s largest mining camp back in its day.

By the 1930s, about 1,200 people lived here before the mines shut down. The town is surrounded by Coronado National Forest and has many old buildings still standing. There’s a jail, schoolhouse, and mining equipment that show what life was like long ago.

If you visit from May through September, you can see 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats fly out of the old mine shafts at sunset. Today, you can camp, take tours, stargaze, bike, and watch wildlife. There’s an entrance fee since the town is privately owned.

Tombstone

Ed Schieffelin founded Tombstone in 1877 after people warned him that ‘the only rock you’ll find out there will be your tombstone.’

When he found silver instead, he named his mine after their warning. The town grew quickly to 14,000 people and became one of the last boom towns in the Southwest.

During its wild years, Tombstone drew gunslingers, cowboys, miners, and immigrants. It was also a hub for smugglers moving cattle, alcohol, and tobacco across the Mexican border. Don’t miss the Birdcage Theater, said to be haunted, or the Tombstone Courthouse State Park. The Goodenough Mine Tour shows the underground operations that built the town.

Don’t miss the Birdcage Theater, said to be haunted, or the Tombstone Courthouse State Park. The Goodenough Mine Tour shows the underground operations that built the town.

Tombstone is famous for the O.K. Corral gunfight and stands as a symbol of the Wild West. You can watch reenactments of the shootout and explore old buildings and museums throughout the town.

Another great stop is the Boot Hill Cemetery displays the town’s violent past with honest epitaphs about how people died.

Jerome

Jerome clings to Cleopatra Hill overlooking Verde Valley and once had over 10,000 people during its copper mining peak. By the 1950s, after the mines closed, fewer than 100 people remained.

Jerome earned National Historic District status in 1967 after being mostly abandoned in 1953 when the Phelps Dodge Mine shut down.

You can see the old jail from the early 1900s still standing in its original form, and the historic Asiatic Saloon has been restored. Some say a miner’s ghost who died in the town hospital still walks the streets.

Stay at the reportedly haunted Jerome Grand Hotel, visit Jerome State Historic Park with its 1916 Douglas Mansion, or check out Audrey Headframe Park with its glass floor over an old mine shaft. The town also has two museums about mining life and a thriving arts community.

Goldfield

Goldfield sits near the Superstition Mountains outside Phoenix. The town began in 1892 when miners found gold worth about three million dollars. This discovery brought miners who built the town, supported by fifty mines in the area.

It once had three saloons, a boarding house, store, blacksmith, brewery, meat market, and school during the 1890s. When gold quality dropped, the town slowly died despite revival attempts between 1910 and 1926.

In 1984, Bob Schoose bought the old site to restore it. Four years later, he opened it as a tourist spot with a rebuilt mining tunnel, snack bar, store, saloon, and museum.

Today, you can tour the Mammoth Gold Mine, visit the museum, try panning for gold, eat at the saloon with live music, or take a ride on the narrow gauge train.

Take the Walking Ghost Tour at night to maybe meet spirits from the past. At just 40 miles from Phoenix, it makes for a fun and easy day trip.

Oatman

Unlike most ghost towns that started in the 1800s, Oatman was founded in 1915 when gold was found nearby. It’s one of the few western towns named after a woman—Olive Oatman—who lived with the Yavapai and Mohave tribes.

Now, it’s famous for wild donkeys that walk the streets, which are descendants of burros the miners brought a century ago. The town keeps its Gold Rush feel with regular gunfight shows by the Oatman Ghost Rider Gunfighters along historic Route 66.

The wooden sidewalks and fixed-up buildings look much like they did during Oatman’s best days.

The main draw is the Oatman Hotel, which survived a 1921 fire and is said to be haunted. Movie stars Clark Gable and Carole Lombard stayed there on their honeymoon. About 40 gift shops line the streets, and many sell carrots for feeding the friendly burros.

Bisbee

During its peak, Bisbee was the largest city between St. Louis and San Francisco thanks to its rich copper mines.

The town started to empty in 1917 when striking mine workers were forced out, and more people left when the mines fully closed in 1974. Bisbee has been preserved as a National Historic District.

You can take tours of the Copper Queen Mine and see historic hotels like the Copper Queen and Bisbee Grand that still operate today.

Modern Bisbee has changed into an artsy community with colorful streets and unique shops. Every year, Bisbee hosts the Bisbee 1000 Stair Climb, a race up and down the steep staircases built into the hillsides.

Fairbank

Fairbank started in 1881 as a key transportation hub for Tombstone, bringing supplies in and moving silver out to nearby mill towns.

The town was left in the 1970s and later taken over by the Bureau of Land Management to preserve its history.

When you visit Fairbank today, you can go inside an old schoolhouse that ran until the 1930s and see what’s left of the town’s hotel, a railroad bridge, and adobe buildings that were once stores and homes.

Unlike many ghost towns that grew around mines, Fairbank mainly served as a transportation center, giving it a different layout and purpose.

Chloride

Located four miles off US 93, this almost-ghost town still has about 300 residents and sits among the Cerbat Mountains.

Established in the 1860s, it has a church, fire department, Chamber of Commerce, historical society, VFW post, playhouse, and town hall. Chloride has the oldest continuously running post office in Arizona.

Stop at the Mineshaft Market & Chloride General Store for a walking/driving guide to see the town’s historic spots. Mining still happens in the area, connecting today’s community to its past. The colorful Purcell murals from the 1970s, up a dirt road outside of town, are worth the trip.

Vulture City

Vulture City has been empty for more than 60 years after its mining boom. The old jail was recently fixed up as a museum about the area’s colorful past. You can now explore ruins of homes, schools, and churches while enjoying the desert scenery.

The mines closed and everyone left in 1937, leaving behind well-preserved buildings. Vulture City has a rebuilt saloon, general store, and post office, each telling stories from the town’s lively days. The infamous hanging tree at Vulture Mine stands as a reminder of frontier justice where thieves caught stealing gold were quickly executed.

The ghost town is known for paranormal activity, with stories of a former miner’s ghost still wandering around. The landscape features mountain views and tall saguaro cacti creating a classic Arizona backdrop.

Gleeson

The old jail in Gleeson was recently turned into a museum about the area’s interesting history. This former mining town once supplied turquoise to Tiffany & Co. in the mid-1880s. Today, only some private ranches, a crumbling general store, and the old jail remain.

The restored jail now operates as a museum with local artifacts and stories, open on the first Saturday each month or by appointment.

Located just 16 miles east of Tombstone, Gleeson had about 500 people during its best years and still has a few buildings showing what life was like in early 1900s Southern Arizona.

Built in 1910, the Gleeson Jail held prisoners temporarily before they went to Tombstone. Other remaining buildings include an old two-story school, a hospital used until the late 1930s, a general store, and a cemetery.

Gleeson is part of the Ghost-Town Loop Tour in southern Arizona that includes Fairbank, Tombstone, and other abandoned places.

Swansea

Swansea is a well-preserved ghost town in western Arizona protected by the Bureau of Land Management. Named after founder George Mitchell’s Welsh hometown, serious mining started here in the mid-1880s. By 1909, a post office opened and the town grew to 750 people.

A year later, the first railroad connected Swansea to the outside world. Besides the usual saloons and restaurants, the town had modern features like a car dealership, theater, and electric light company.

Because of the dry location, water had to be piped in almost four miles from the Bill Williams River. The old post office has been preserved and is said to be haunted by a former resident’s ghost.

Visitors note the total quiet that lets you connect deeply with Arizona’s mining past. You can see ruins of homes, schools, and churches while watching for desert wildlife. The remote location has helped keep many structures intact.

Tip Top

Founded in 1880 and abandoned by 1916, Tip Top is a hidden gem just a short drive from Phoenix. You can explore well-preserved ruins, including old adobe buildings and mine shafts, while enjoying the peaceful, remote setting.

Unlike many ghost towns that lasted longer, Tip Top was active for only about five years before being abandoned in 1897, making it one of the shortest-lived mining communities on our list. You’ll need to drive on unpaved roads to reach this remote town, adding to the adventure.

The ghost town sits on a hillside with visible mine entrances nearby. You can still find artifacts from the late 1800s among the ruins. The views are amazing, with panoramic desert vistas showing why miners chose this challenging spot.