The author and the ghost town are pictured side-by-side.
The ghost town of Ashcroft is south of Aspen.
There were hotels, saloons, and 2,000 residents in Ashcroft. 5 years after it was built, it was empty.
I toured the abandoned buildings and found a lot of success and failure.
The ghost town of Ashcroft is eleven miles away from Aspen, Colorado.
The ghost town of Ashcroft has abandoned buildings.
There are just 10 decaying buildings in Ashcroft, Colorado. According to the Aspen Historical Society's website, Ashcroft was a booming mining town in the late 19th century.
I explored the decaying buildings of Ashcroft to learn more about the site's turbulent past before visiting one of the country's richest ski towns.
The author stands in front of an abandoned building.
I stopped at the ghost town before I arrived in Aspen.
The Ouray County Historical Society has a plaque on the site that states that the town was home to the Ute Indians, who were forced off of their land.
The town was abandoned just as quickly as it was built, like many of Colorado's mining towns that turned into ghost towns.
An abandoned building is located at the town site.
Two miners moved to Castle Creek Valley in order to find silver. Hundreds of others followed in a matter of months, according to the Aspen Historical Society's website.
The silver ran out and the town was abandoned by 1885.
The abandoned ghost town is a 25-minute drive from Aspen.
An arrow points to a town.
The United States Forest Service has a historic site called Ashcroft.
Visitors are greeted by a muddy parking lot and wooden shacks. The ghost town's 10 remaining buildings are just beyond the road.
Monica Humphries/Insider has a picture of the ghost town.
It's difficult to tell how big the site is from the side of the road.
Three of the 10 remaining buildings of Ashcroft are not part of the original town.
The information center was the first wood cabin I saw. I left my entrance fee in a nearby box when I visited.
The information center is located in the ghost town of Ashcroft.
The information center and museum are usually open during the summer. It costs $5 per person year-round to access those facilities.
I couldn't see inside the museum during the winter. I could step inside most of the abandoned buildings because I had access to the nature trails.
The first thing you learn about Ashcroft is that it was once home to the Ute Indians.
A picture of a camp and herd of animals belonging to members of the Ute tribe of Native Americans in Colorado in 1875.
The Castle Creek Valley was a summer camp for the Tabeguache band of White River Ute Indians for hundreds of years.
The Ouray County Historical Society says that Chief Ouray signed an agreement to give the territory to the US government in 1873.
The Ouray County Historical Society said that the Ute Indians were forced to relocate to Utah in the late 19th century because they ceded 3.5 million acres.
The first building of the ghost town was visited by me.
Monica Humphries has a cabin at the ghost town.
I learned from reading the plaques that the town had 2,000 residents by the year 1884. Only 100 people remained by 1885.
Two miners founded the company.
According to the Aspen Historical Society, the duo and 23 prospective residents moved into the area, which was later renamed Castle Forks City. The group built a courthouse, paved roads, and a Miner's Protective Association in two weeks.
By the year 1884, Ashcroft was larger than Aspen and had two newspapers, 20 saloons, and a school.
As a mining town, Ashcroft didn't last long. The town's residents searched for success elsewhere after the region's silver deposits ran out.
The back of a saloon.
The silver mines were not long-lived. Many residents left Ashcroft in search of other prosperous and growing towns, like nearby Aspen, AllTrips reported.
The US Postal Service ended its mail delivery service in 1912 for the remaining 50 residents, who spent their days hunting, fishing, and drinking.
The hustle and bustle of the old town was what I imagined when I walked through the abandoned street.
There is a row of abandoned houses.
According to Atlas Obscura, many people in Ashcroft were men and their main pastime was drinking.
I imagined popping into saloons and hearing the gossip as I walked through the dirt paths.
The saloons were a major part of the town. There were twenty at the height of Ashcroft. There are two abandoned saloons.
The two saloons are at the historic Ashcroft town site.
There were 20 different saloons in Ashcroft. Visitors only see two today.
The Blue Mirror Saloon was once the most intact saloon in Ashcroft and was once where miners would gather to share gossip, exchange stories and drink.
Another abandoned saloon was next door.
I peered inside the Blue Mirror Saloon, which was locked, and saw other remnants of the town's past.
The saloon in the town has artifacts from the past.
There are artifacts from the original Ashcroft in the saloon museum.
The insulation on the walls of the rest of the abandoned structures was peeling.
Paper and other insulation materials peel from the walls of an abandoned building.
The interior of the abandoned buildings offered clues as to how the residents of Ashcroft kept warm in the winter.
A plaque informs visitors that paper and other goods were used to insulate the cabins. Most of it had rotted away.
The Bird House Hotel was at the end of the dirt road. It's the only two-story building left.
The Bird House Hotel was abandoned.
The Bird House Hotel was the main hotel for Ashcroft.
The structure collapsed in the winter of 1974 but was restored a year later.
Visitors can look out into the valley from the second story.
Monica was climbing the stairs of the old hotel.
Visitors can see the town and Castle Creek Valley from the second story.
In the early 20th century, there were few men in the town.
Hikers from the Colorado Mountain Club sit around a campfire on a hike through the Holy Cross National Forest in 1917. The residents of Ashford are not pictured.
A few people stayed behind in Ashcroft.
The residents of the remaining silver mines were single men and they filled their days with fishing, hunting, reading, and drinking.
According to the historical society, the last original and remaining resident of Ashcroft was "Judge" Jack Leahy.
There were hopes that the town could become a ski town.
The Ashcroft Ghost Town has abandoned buildings.
Ted Ryan and Billy Fiske planned a ski lodge in Ashcroft after it became an abandoned mining town.
Ryan leased the area to the US army after Fiske died in World War II, according to HistoryNet. The plans for a ski town never came to fruition.
Stuart Mace moved to Ashcroft in 1948, according to the Aspen Historical Society. He spent the rest of his life at the town site after bringing his dog-sledding operation to the region.
Mace and the Aspen Historical Society helped make Ashcroft a National Register Historic site.
I gained a better understanding of Colorado's history when I looked across the valley.
The author stands in front of an abandoned cabin.
Colorado's mining and Native American history were paralleled by the stories of Ashcroft.
Ashcroft's history is filled with success and failure, from the Ute Indians to dog sledding operations.
As I headed back to Aspen, I thought about how the region has changed over the years.
I plan to add Ashcroft to my itinerary every time I visit the ski town because it's a simple stop from Aspen.
The original article is on Insider.
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