There are more abandoned towns across the world’s deserts than you might first think. The desert plains across the USA play home to a plethora of Wild West towns that went from booming mining villages to lifeless towns within decades. Similarly, the likes of South America, Australia and Southern Africa unveil the crumbling shells of once-thriving towns and villages that were abandoned and reclaimed by the desert. Here are the world’s communities that have become eerie ghost towns and, interestingly, manmade attractions among the sands.

Perched across the dusty slopes of its namesake mountain range, Calico once had the largest silver mine in California. By the late 19th century, it had over 500 mines and a 3,500-strong community. But when the price of silver became regulated by the government’s Silver Purchase Act, the mines became unprofitable and were soon abandoned.

Calico remained a ghost town for 100-plus years but, thanks to Walter Knott – who bought and restored many of the buildings in the 1950s – it is now an intriguing time capsule offering a peak at America’s colourful mining history.

Calico is also now a regional park which people can visit on the edge of the Mojave Desert, complete with museums, an old schoolhouse, and a narrow-gauge railway.

An empty hospital, abandoned shopping street and houses faded by the blistering sun, are some of the few buildings that remain in Kolmanskop. But this sand-filled town in the scorching Namib desert was once one of the richest settlements in Africa, thanks to a diamond boom in 1910.

After a railway worker named Zacharias Lewala discovered the first rough diamonds here, the German colonial town flourished at unbelievable speed and some 1,000 workers helped produce around a million carats of diamond a year.

The community, located nine miles east of the harbour town of Lüderitz, became deserted in the late 1920s when an even bigger diamond deposit was discovered some 160 miles (99km) south of here. Today, aside from the odd Namib wild horse, no one inhabits this sweltering region dubbed ‘the forbidden zone’ and this once vibrant ghost town is now disappearing into the sand.

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Thanks to the discovery of vast gold reserves in Nevada’s Bullfrog Hills, thousands of people came to settle in the town of Rhyolite in the early 20th century. Located 120 miles (193km) northwest of Las Vegas on the edge of Death Valley, it was one of several mining camps that peppered the dry and desolate terrain of the Amargosa Desert.

With a thriving community and infrastructure – including a school, banks, stock exchange and railway station – it was a prosperous place to be, until the San Francisco earthquake and financial crisis hit in 1907. Many mines across the region were forced to close and by the 1920s, this once boomtown became completely deserted. 

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Today, Rhyolite is one of the most photographed ghost towns in the West and visitors are drawn to its intriguing collection of ruins including a well-preserved railroad depot and its well-known Bottle House, made from hundreds of Adolphus Busch (now Budweiser) bottles. The town has also featured in a string of films such as Six String Samurai and The Air Mail. 

It’s a bizarre sight to see the timeworn remains of a theatre, grocery shop and even cast-iron swimming pool in the arid wilderness of the Atacama Desert. But the barren flats near Iquique in northern Chile were once a flourishing saltpetre mining site where thriving communities settled in the towns of Humberstone and Santa Laura.

After boasting an impressive 200 working mines in the 19th century, these profitable towns supplied vast quantities of potassium nitrate to North America and Europe where it was made into fertiliser and gunpowder. But after a slow and painful decline, the industry folded and by the 1960s, all but one of the mines in the region became abandoned.

Today, Humberstone and Santa Laura are an eerie, locked-in-time collection of industrial buildings, machinery and former homes scattered across the Mars-like desert. And thanks to a non-profit organisation who helped preserve them, the ghost towns are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites with some buildings acting as mini museums.

Located on the famous Apache Trail (also known as AZ 88), the aptly named town of Goldfield in Arizona came about when (you guessed it), gold ore was found here in between the spectacular Goldfield and Superstition Mountains in the late 19th century. After just five years, gold reserves were depleted, and the short-lived boom was over with miners moving on to other sites.

Although hopeful prospectors returned in later years with new mining methods, the town was never fully revived and Goldfield, (later renamed Youngsberg), was left to go to wrack and ruin.

These days, this quintessential Wild West mining town in the vast Sonoran Desert has evolved into a ‘living’ ghost town rather than a deserted one, with the preserved historic buildings, horseback rides and myriad activities adding to the tourist attractions. There's a museum, authentic Wild West saloon and underground tours in the once-working mines and the site is encircled by the ‘Superstition’ narrow-gauge railway, which offers a narrated journey around the town. Spooky ghost tours are held at night. 

Some people travel to this arid corner of southwest Texas to see vast canyons carved out by the Rio Grande and marvel at the towering Chisos mountain range of Big Bend National Park. But the ghost town of Terlingua has also become an attraction for its eerie ruined buildings and boho vibe.

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In the heart of the Chihuahuan Desert, close to the Mexican border, the historic Chisos Mining Company (and three others) once thrived in this boom-bust town alongside some 2,000 residents. It was the richest mercury-mining area in North America.

Following its height of success in the 1880s, Terlingua eventually fell into decay and save for a clutch of shops and dining spots that have opened for tourists, its buildings – and eerie cemetery – remain largely abandoned.

Abandoned shacks and empty car shells left to rust in the heat act as a memento of the thriving town that once stood in Gwalia, Western Australia. Some 1,200 people lived in this old mining town when it was at its peak in the late 19th century and it was centred around one of the largest gold mines in Australia.

Although the mines were forced to shut in the 1960s, Gwalia and the surrounding Goldfields has become a treasured region for Australians. Huge efforts have gone into preserving the area’s rich mining history, which was recognised by the 2019 Heritage Award, and various buildings in this intriguing desert ghost town – including 22 miners’ cottages – have been carefully preserved.

On the edge of the desert, west of Broken Hill City, the ghost town of Silverton is another reminder of Australia’s rich mining history. Now famed for its movie appearances (the town provided a backdrop for 1960s horror Journey into Darkness and Mad Max 2), Silverton once had a population of 3,000 thanks to the plethora of silver mines which peppered the region in the 1880s.

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Like many New South Wales mining towns, Silverton went into sharp decline and by the early 20th century, most of its inhabitants had left. Today, it’s billed as one of Australia’s must-visit ghost towns, but it’s not entirely deserted. Among the ruined buildings, a couple of tiny galleries and museums have opened and you can even order a pint at the age-old Silverton Hotel for a taste of a bygone era.

Once a thriving spot for cattle ranches and wheat farming, Glenrio, which straddles the border between Texas and New Mexico, was also a pitstop for those driving the historic Route 66 and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad during the early to mid-20th century.

The tiny town was made up of no more than 30 people but had a plethora of shops and businesses, a Glenrio Tribune newspaper, as well as a gas station, to cater for the stream of travellers who passed through on holiday. Sadly, Glenrio’s fate changed in the 1970s when the Interstate 40 was built, bypassing the community, and the road-tripper’s paradise couldn’t survive. 

All that’s left of this eerie ghost town are the crumbling remains of the old motel, post office and former gas station, surrounded by miles of hot and dusty desert.

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Like a time capsule in the desert, Milparinka is what is left of a former mining town that was left to decay on the edge of the Australian desert following the area’s gold rush era of the late 1800s. In between the towns of Broken Hill and Tibooburra in New South Wales, it would take a long drive across the arid terracotta desert to reach this sun-baked ghost town. But many do, to see the crumbling remains of its school, general store, bank, pub, post office and sandstone courthouse whose roof dates back to 1896.

In its heyday, Milparinka boasted four hotels and a population of around 300 residents, and you can still order a pint in the 1882 Albert Hotel – a typical outback hotel and the town’s last remaining business. That’s if you’re not too spooked – Milparinka lays claim to being one of the most haunted ghost towns in the region.

Dating back some 2,000 years, the maze-like Old Town Al’Ula in northwestern Saudi Arabia is one of the oldest desert ghost towns you’ll find on Earth. Dusty, decaying and home to intriguing carvings from the ancient Arab Kingdoms of Dadan and Lihyan, it’s a beguiling site, cut into the sandstone hills some 220 miles (137km) north of Medina.

Now a labyrinth of decrepit buildings, this once-bustling oasis in the fertile Al’Ula Valley region was once a stopping point for caravans carrying luxury goods on the old incense trading route.

By the 7th century, the town had become deserted before a walled city was built on top of it and it was bustling once again until the 1980s when the last inhabitants left. With rumours of a new ‘cultural hub’ being developed here, time is running out to see this ghost town in its current otherworldly state. 

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Hidden in the desert scrub by southern Arizona’s Dragoon Mountains, the now-crumbling town of Gleeson was booming in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Once home to the Chiricahua Apache tribe who mined turquoise, a man called John Gleeson later discovered large copper deposits here and prospectors swiftly moved in to set up camp. In its heyday, Gleeson had around 500 inhabitants and when copper and gold deposits were found in nearby Courtland and Pearce, the places became a trio of boom towns.

Unlike Gleeson, the community thrived for a little longer in Pearce, with a post office that continued to run until the 1960s (and is now a home) and a general store which was restored and placed on the National Register of Historic Buildings. Apart from that, the town – which includes an unrestored twin of the Gleeson jail – became largely reclaimed by the desert, while Gleeson Jail itself now houses a mini museum of newspaper articles, artefacts and memorabilia. 

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Head south of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates and you will find a collection of eerily empty buildings, which were once the foundations of a bustling maritime community. Al Jazirat al Hamra was built by three local tribes using the Sarooj mortar – a mixture of limestone and clay – and played home to a pearl fishing village which flourished until the early 20th century.

It’s not certain why the community left – whether it was due to disputes with local leaders or people were lured to Abu Dhabi following the oil discovery. But today, the empty shells of houses, schools and – a purportedly haunted – mosque are all that is left of this abandoned town.

It’s hard to believe the dusty red earth of Farina was once prime agricultural land. But in the late 19th century this once-fertile region in the South Australia outback enjoyed unusually wet weather and became an oasis for farmers looking to grow wheat. Accessed by the iconic Ghan Railway, Farina became a flourishing copper and silver mining community with a bakery, butchers, blacksmiths' shops and hotel to boot.

At its peak, a population of 600 residents called this place home, but the town’s luck changed in the early 20th century when the railway line was extended and rerouted and the town was ravaged by drought and dust storms. Today, Farina, found 370 miles (595km) north of Adelaide, is a bona fide ghost town where just a few deserted buildings remain. 

When pioneers made one of their first major gold strikes in western America, it was in Nelson, deep in the Nevada desert. Founded in 1861, the Techatticup Mine and the surrounding Eldorado Canyon were at the epicentre of the Gold Rush, but with that came greed, lawlessness and even murder.

When the boom finally subsided in the early 20th century, Nelson was left to crumble, until it was purchased and restored by Tony and Bobbie Werly. Across the desert shrubland, decrepit wooden houses, a decaying church and old West buildings are now joined by modern additions like mid-century oil signs and a 1950s-style gas station.

Located just 45 minutes from the famous Vegas Strip, the eerie ghost town also has guided tours through the Techatticup Mine tunnels, which extend deep into the surrounding hills.

 

Situated just 15 miles (9.5km) from Nevada’s Wells, this ghost town never lived up to its name. Metropolis was developed in the early 20th century in order to grow wheat in the surrounding area but conflict over water rights and low agricultural prices shut the town down by the mid-1930s. Now all that is left are the remains of a school and a hotel as well as seven ranches nearby.

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