With inhabitants dating back some 10,000 years, New Mexico’s story is rich with history, from the Ancient Puebloan Indians, to Spanish explorers, pioneers traveling along the Santa Fe Trail, and prospectors in the 19th century. These many folks left their “footprints,” not only along the many old trails in the “Land of Enchantment,” but also on the many ruins and ghost towns that remain.
From abandoned pueblos to old mining camps, to deserted railroad and ranching towns, New Mexico is left with hundreds of ghost towns and historic sites to explore.
Ghost Towns, Ruins and Mining Camps:
Coal Mining Towns of the Vermejo Park Ranch
Chloride – Center of the Apache Mining District
Colfax – An Unsuccessful Prospect
Dilia – On the Old Alignment of Route 66
Elizabethtown – Gone But Not Forgotten
Endee to San Jon – Ghostly Stretch of 66
Fort Union – Protecting the Santa Fe Trail
Ghosts of Abo (Pueblo Ruins and Ghost Town)
Jicarilla – Still Gold in Them Thar Hills
Lake Valley – Silver Mining Heydays

Lincoln, New Mexico, 1800’s
Lincoln – Wild Wild West Frozen in Time
Monticello Canyon Ghost Towns – Placita and Monticello
Nara Visa – A Picturesque Ghost Town
Ocate, New Mexico – On the Santa Fe Trail
Rayado, New Mexico – On the Santa Fe Trail
Shakespeare – Born Again and Again
Steins – A Railroad Ghost Town
Tiptonville – Extinct on the Santa Fe Trail
Golden, New Mexico Has Seen Better Days
Los Cerrillos – Two Thousand Years of History
White Oaks -Liveliest Town in the Territory
Winston – Mining & Ranching in Sierra County
Take nothing but photos – leave nothing but footprints – break nothing but silence – kill nothing but time.
—Explorer’s Code