Quick Facts
- State
- Colorado
- County
- Washington County
- Status
- Unknown Status
- Access
- Unknown Access
- Coordinates
- Not recorded
If walls could talk, De Nova would never shut up. Lucky for visitors, they mostly just stand there. A ghost town of unknown status in Washington County, Colorado.
Colorado's high-country ghost towns sit at altitudes that would give a flatlander nosebleeds — silver camps killed by an 1893 vote in Washington.
Washington County holds 3 documented ghost towns, including Last Chance, Pinneo — De Nova keeps them company on the map.
The story of De Nova
Colorado's mountains are a timeline of American mining law written in wood and stone. The Pikes Peak rush of 1859 started it; the silver boom of the late 1870s — Leadville, Aspen, Creede — turned the high country's mineral districts into some of the richest on earth. Then came 1893: the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act crashed the price of silver overnight, and Colorado's silver camps died in a matter of months. It remains the single fastest mass-abandonment in the state's history. De Nova is a product of that cycle — built on a metal whose value was set in Washington, emptied by a vote it never saw coming.
What you'll find today
The on-the-ground condition of De Nova is unverified — it's listed here with unknown status. That could mean standing buildings, or an empty field. Go prepared for either, and consider sharing what you find so the record improves.
Nobody has confirmed the access situation, so treat any visit as reconnaissance: verify land ownership first, and be ready to admire from the road.
Getting there
Here's the honest truth: access to De Nova is unverified. We couldn't confirm whether the site sits on public land, private property, or something in between — so verify land ownership and local rules before visiting, and respect private property at all times.
Good to know
Ghost-town etiquette is simple: take only photographs. Removing artifacts is illegal on public lands and disrespectful everywhere else — and on federal land it can be a serious offense.