Montana's Historic Ghost Town Is An Abandoned Beauty Hidden In The State's Mountainous Woodlands

Take a step back in time when you explore Montana's Old West — mountains, valleys, and prairies with a history of ranchers and miners. After visiting the Old West ghost town of Bannack or the abandoned yet well-preserved town of Garnet, head deep into the wilderness and discover yet another ghost town from Montana's mining heyday: Coolidge. Tucked away in southwest Montana, this destination is remote, and it's not necessarily easy to reach. The reward is walking in the footsteps of the residents who once lived here in the now dilapidated and decaying buildings.

Coolidge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places — the town was established in 1914 by workers from Elkhorn Mine and Mill. "Coolidge was an underground, hard rock mine, the last large-scale silver mine and mill in Montana," notes NBC Montana. The small town thrived despite its isolated location, and by 1922, it had electricity, a telephone service, a post office, and a school.

Coolidge has been abandoned for decades, with just remnants of the town left behind. The mining operation went into receivership in 1923, and residents started moving away in the following years. The last inhabited building in Coolidge was the Tyro house, home of the postmaster Frank Tyro; Silver Bow Club notes that the post office closed in 1932, and by the late 1940s, mining here had completely finished, according to the Montana State Library. Today, travel bloggers My Itchy Travel Feet report that Coolidge has "log structures in various states of disrepair, some are no more than a pile of rubble, while others are still standing."

When you reach Coolidge, you can wander around the ruined buildings and what's left of the town. The Tyro house is the best preserved building; you can also see the remains of another building, supposedly the roof of the old schoolhouse, perched precariously on a waterfall in the creek. The buildings are falling apart and not maintained, so take care when exploring here — the mine is permanently closed for safety reasons.

Coolidge is surrounded by the Pioneer Mountains and Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest — the site can be accessed from the 49-mile Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway. Coolidge is roughly in the middle, about a 40-minute drive south of Wise River, which is on MT Highway 43, or a 35-minute drive north from Polaris; these two small towns bookend the scenic byway. To visit Coolidge, you'll turn off the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway — which is paved from Wise River to Crystal Park — and drive about 5 miles on a dirt road to the parking lot for Coolidge. My Itchy Travel Feet reports that there are pit toilets and picnic tables at the parking lot. Once you've parked, you'll need to go on a short walk through the woods — which will take about 10 to 15 minutes — before reaching Coolidge.

For more ghost towns in Montana, don't miss a stop at Virginia City, the former territorial capital of Montana, which is located about a 2-hour drive east of Coolidge. Alternatively, head northeast to explore Elkhorn State Park, Montana's smallest state park with two well-preserved 19th-century buildings.