WISH i was on HOLIDAY
Summers on Holiday Haven
- Vacation Idea #27 -
Visit a Ghost Town
(Monte Cristo)
Visiting a ghost town is exciting and educational. A little step back in time. A great family outing. The photos below are from our recent trip to Monte Cristo, an old mining town off of Mountain Loop Hwy. in Washington State. At the end of this article I have included a link to a site where you can look up ghost towns in your area.
Built a top an old rail road track, the trail to the old townsite of Monte Cristo is about a five mile walk into the forest.
It starts as a wide flat trail.
Then, due to some storm damage, has some rocky spots an detours.
In which this tree serves as a bridge across the river.
In the storm damaged area we had to take our little one out of his bike trailer stroller, carry him, and carry the stroller.
But it returned to the beautiful trail soon enough.
The views were indescribable.
The rivers edge.
Hiking along.
Large raspberry bushes grace the trail.
Evergreen trees and beautiful peaks.
And then you come to the townsite.
When you first enter it, you see a circle of red cabins and old relics.
But if you keep going on the trail past the bridge you find...
Dumas St. (that is... do-mas)
And that is where the real treasure are.
Old businesses and homes.
This antique bed frame was my favorite discovery.
See the Lion's head?
An old bucket with bullet holes.
Beyond the town you can see the site of the five story concentrator building that was purposely burned down in 1917.
On the way back we saw this old relic poking out from behind a tree. I think it is a stove?
And don't leave before you turn this old railroad turntable. It looks like it is to heavy to move, but there is a worn path around it where people (including my kids) have spun it around.
Tips: It took us about 4 hours to get to the town, and about 3 hours to get back. But, we were on foot and had several children with us. On a bike and/or without children might make this trip shorter. There is a campsite near the entrance to the town and if we were to go back we would camp there because there is so much to explore around Monte Cristo. As it was, we stayed in the town for about 2 hours and did not see all there was to see. As with any long hike you will want to take plenty of water, food, toilet paper, first aid kit, and get a good early start. There are restrooms at the trail head across the street in the upper parking lot, near the tree "bridge" early on in the trail, and just before the townsite. And if you are not familiar with the movie (or book) titled Monte Cristo it is a fun one to watch after you return from the trip.
To find a ghost town in your area a great site to start searching for them is GhostTowns.com's. (I am not affiliated with this site in anyway, just sharing it for fun).
They have a directory for the U.S. and Canada. See their top navigation bar or click on the map on the left just under their header.
To see more vacation ideas click the 'vacation ideas' tab at the top of this page.
2 Comments:
I am so in love with the fact that we live in the same state. I have found so many fun and exciting things to do through your blog!! Here is another adventure my daughter and I will soon go on. Thank you.
Hey you! I love the pictures and will have to camp there now.
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