Chloride

Arizona's ghost towns are sun-bleached and honest — copper, silver, and gold camps that lived fast and died the moment the ore did.

Chloride is a one-time silver mining camp in Mohave County, Arizona, United States, and is considered the oldest continuously inhabited mining town in the state. The town is a census-designated place (CDP), with a population at the 2020 census of 229. Chloride has a ZIP Code of 86431. The town is located on the southwest flank of the Cerbat Mountains, 23 miles (37 km) northwest of Kingman, the Mohave county seat. Grasshopper Junction is 4 miles (6 km) to the west on U.S. Route 93.

Chloride never fully emptied out — it's a living historic town where a small community still tends the old buildings. Be a considerate guest: patronize local businesses, keep noise down, and remember people live here.

Public access makes Chloride 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.

Chloride 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 Chloride is roughly 35.4200, -114.2000 — 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 "Chloride, Arizona" covers Chloride 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 Chloride gets better.