Bannack

Montana's ghost towns span gold-rush gulches and the great homestead bust that emptied the Hi-Line.

Bannack is a ghost town in Beaverhead County, Montana, United States, located on Grasshopper Creek, approximately 11 miles (18 km) upstream from where Grasshopper Creek joins with the Beaverhead River south of Dillon. Founded in 1862, the town is a National Historic Landmark managed by the state of Montana as Bannack State Park.

Bannack 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.

Its park setting is good news for visitors: maintained access and marked routes, with firm rules about leaving every structure and artifact exactly as you found it.

Head for the state park entrance, pay any day-use fee, and ask rangers about the best route to the townsite — plus any seasonal closures before you set out. The mapped point for Bannack is roughly 45.1600, -113.0000 — 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 "Bannack, Montana" covers Bannack 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 Bannack gets better.