Southwest Utah's ghost towns

You don’t have to believe in ghosts to find ghost towns chilling. There’s something haunting about a site that was once bustling but is now totally abandoned. Whatever brought settlers West, whether it was a group of religious pioneers in search of freedom or miners hoping to strike it rich, it was all about hope. Ghost towns, though abandoned and in various states of ruin, stand as a reminder of settlers’ dreams for a better life. And, of course, along with the hope, there was plenty of drama, too; it took the form of gunfights, union riots, Indian raids, grasshopper plagues, and silver rushes, among other things. St. George may have been a town that defied the odds and survived, but while you’re visiting, you can also explore some of the historic settlements that were almost lost to time, as they sit in a state of preserved ruin.