Ghost Towns of Colorado: Your Guide to Colorado's Historic Mining Camps and Ghost Towns

Definitely the best ghost towns book in CO. I have read few and this one is only one I had purchased some time ago. So far I did not seen any better. My husband and I traveled to every location listed in this book, I have taken the same pics you see in this book and all is the way this books describes and more! A must for history lovers and/or offroaders.

This is one of the best Colorado ghost town books I have seen, probably the best one. It does a good job of dividing Colorado up into specific areas that have many ghost towns to see. Then it divides those areas into principle sites and lesser sites. It gives you great driving directions and history of the towns. Overall, It is brilliantly put together. I wasn't even going to write this review if it weren't for some of the reviews below mine. They got it all wrong. There are many great ghost towns left in Colorado. The reviewer that says they are just towns with an empty building or two, obvoiusly didn't look very hard or travel very far from his home in greater Denver. He probably didn't even get out of his Chevy Cavalier to explore. Maybe ghost towns are not for city slickers who don't understand. Some of the best ghost towns in the book are not all that easy to get to. I guarantee you that he did not venture anywhere near Animas Forks, Crystal, Marble, Buckskin Joe, Gothic or many other picturesque Colorado ghost towns worthy of post cards or old westerns. Yes, there are a few towns in the book that still have inhabitants in or near them. But they are most likely listed due to their great history and amazing buildings that still stand (Leadville). I guarantee you that if you buy this book you will not be displeased. This book has the most wonderful pictures of ghost towns and Colorado history. I will also tell you from experience that you will not find a better Colorado ghost town book out there. This Author knows what he is doing, he has also written the best Arizona ghost town book available.

I found this book very interesting and informative as a Colorado resident and avid ghost towns explorer. The pictures are beautiful, and the maps and directions are helpful. I keep this book whenever I drive out of town.

______________________________________________ [Paired review with Arizona Ghost Towns & Mining Camps, by Philip Varney] Ghost town books are traditionally rather scruffy affairs, with dim photos, little organization and an amateurish look. Philip Varney has raised the bar with these two books. Both feature clean design, good directions to the sites, excellent photographs and well-written text. Varley writes "I wanted a practical, informative guide that would give me the details I needed next to me on the sea of my truck." Both books are squarely on his mark. The Colorado book is nicer: all the present-day photographs are in color, and the extra 24 pages allow more photos and a bit more depth to the text. But the Arizona book is no slouch: it has the advantage of Arizona Highways' long experience in producing good, easy-to-use guidebooks (plus it's cheaper). I've been to most of the sites in both books; in almost every case I've learned something new from his books. The photos are excellent, the maps and directions are easy to follow, and Varney's writing style is personable and informative. Either book will make a fine companion for your next Colorado or Arizona vacation, even if you don't ordinarily pay much attention to ghost towns. Those with an interest in Western history *need* both books. And they're both excellent for armchair travellers. We're already talking about a Colorado trip next summer --Kathleen's never seen the *real* South Park. Varney really has no competition for either state. These are the two best ghost-town guidebooks I'v seen. He'salso written ghost-town guides for New Mexico (1987?) and Southern California (1990); both are in print, but I haven't read them. Happy reading-- Pete Tillman Consulting Geologist, Tucson & Santa Fe (USA) Pete Tillman visited his first Colorado ghost towns some 40 years ago, and has since been to hundreds more throughout the West, both for work and for fun. Vulture (AZ) is his current favorite "true" ghost. But, hmm, Bodie (CA) is bigger and better-kept.... And Jerome (AZ) has the best views... And I've *still* never been to Crystal (CO). So much to see, so little time....

This is an excellant resource for finding the Ghost Towns in Colorado. It gave detailed directions to locate them. The colored photographs were very interesting to look at and sparked our interest to track certain towns down. It was nice to have some history available from the book to know what went on in town and when its "hay day" was in our history. It is a very attractive book and could also be used as a coffee table book.