St. Elmo

Colorado's high-country ghost towns sit at altitudes that would give a flatlander nosebleeds — silver camps killed by an 1893 vote in Washington.

The St. Elmo hotel constructed in 1898 is located on Main Street in the town of Ouray, Colorado. This structure has been placed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. The interior of the hotel has been restored as a Victorian era hotel, much the way it was when it opened to miners in the late 19th century.

St. Elmo is classified as a preserved ghost town: its buildings and streetscape survive close to their original form. These are the most rewarding towns to visit — and the most fragile. Stay on marked paths, don't enter unstable structures, and leave every artifact where you found it.

Public access makes St. Elmo one of the easier ghost towns to actually stand in — though "public" in ghost-town country can still mean miles of dirt road, so check recent trip reports first.

St. Elmo is publicly accessible — but give the word "accessible" some respect. Out here it can still mean miles of unmaintained dirt road. Check recent trip reports, carry extra water and a spare tire, download offline maps, and let someone know your route. The mapped point for St. Elmo is roughly 38.7100, -106.3500 — use it as a starting point and cross-reference a current topographic map before leaving pavement.

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.

The ground itself demands respect: open mine shafts, collapsing floors, and old wells hide in tall grass, cell service is often nonexistent, and help can be hours away. Tell someone your plans, pack more water than you think you'll need — and save the early morning or late afternoon light for your camera.

Want the full story? The Wikipedia article on "St. Elmo Hotel" covers St. Elmo in more depth — find the link in Sources below. County archives, historic newspaper collections, and the state historical society are the next stops after that: plat maps, census rolls, and old photographs fill in what a short visit can't. If you make the trip, consider sharing your photos and notes — firsthand reports are how the record of St. Elmo gets better.