Ghost Towns

[SmithSwede]

For some reason, I’ve gotten interested in “ghost-busting,” meaning finding and learning about ghost towns. 

Was in Scott County Arkansas this weekend.  Found the old sawmill town of Forestor, about 2 miles north on a dirt road off highway 28. 

Forestor was quite the place circa 1930 to 1952.  Had its own roads, a railroad line, a drugstore, a barber/beauty shop, a twenty-eight-room hotel, a depot, a garage with car sales, a ballpark and stadium, a community hall/Masonic Lodge, and the company store. Forester had its own water system and power plant, and 2 water powered generators.  Elementary and high school classes.  A singing band.  An enormous warehouse for cut lumber. 

It is amazing how little is left.  If you don’t look closely you would think you were on some random dirt road in a forest.

Who else likes looking for old ghost towns?  Got good photos or directions?

Here is the mill pond for Forestor.  Along with huge concrete structures which I think housed the water powered dynamoes. 

[kballowe]

I always wonder about the history of these old places.

Here's an article from the www about Forestor, Arkansas.  It was a lumber town.

https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/forester-scott-county-6194/

[Bisbee]

A few years ago at the New Mexico Datil rally, I rode on 180 south to Mogollon. It was said to be the most violent , wildest mining town in the west. My advise is Do Not Go There. Very remote and for 6 miles the paved road is narrow single lane with many blind tight corners. If you meet a vehicle it would be a catastrophe. No guardrails with 100+ feet drops. Interesting place though. Better to go to the Catwalk a few miles south near Alma. A definite must see and much safer. Amazing what the miners did to extract gold and silver.

[Tkelly]

Rush AR is on the Buffalo river.Great campground nearby.Gibbonsville ID where the Broken Arrow rally takes place is Brett’s close to a ghost town with a few residents and a great museum.

[Dirk_S]

My advise is Do Not Go There. Very remote and for 6 miles the paved road is narrow single lane with many blind tight corners. If you meet a vehicle it would be a catastrophe. No guardrails with 100+ feet drops.

Your reasons against it are the very roads I seek out (minus the risk of big 4-wheeled vehicles careening straight toward me in my lane). Some of my favorite roads in Turkey, Spain, Chile, and the States are those remote one-lainers with no bumper-bowling guard rails for safety.

[rocker59]

  Do Not Go There. Very remote and for 6 miles the paved road is narrow single lane with many blind tight corners. If you meet a vehicle it would be a catastrophe. No guardrails with 100+ feet drops. 

Did you encounter much traffic on your ride into and out of Mogollon?

[JJ]

Bodie, CA and Chloride, AZ come to mind....both classic Ghost Towns...

[Bisbee]

Rocker- coming out of Mogollon there is a steep 180 degree turn up with a deadly drop off and almost lost it . Fortunately, the Stelvio had the power to upright itself and carry on. I met one jeep , luckily, on a straight stretch and we squiggled by each other. 30 seconds later, I would have met in a blind hairpin.

[Tkelly]

Taking a pass on Mogollon.

[Scott Carpenter]

Not so much ghost towns, but ghost roads are a fascination of mine. Those roads, that because a motorway has been build to carry the load, carry the fast traffic, are quieter but retain signs of former greatness. They can be unnerving in the way they are wide, deserted, with abandoned service stations and cafes, pubs etc. In the UK the A4 and the old A30 come to mind. Sometimes they have been revitalised, with the right business that gets people out of the fast lane....

[SIR REAL ED]

SmithSwede,

You would probably enjoy this series:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6823138/episodes/?year=2020&ref_=ttep_ep_yr_pr

Mind blowing to see the effort human exert on a project and then just abandon, or realize it was a foolish endeavor.

There is a similar show called Mysterious Engineering IIRC.

I own a chunk of land that has several abandoned roads on it and the remnants of a dam (approx. 80' x 12' x 15') that according to those who have researched mills in Virginia dates back to before 1820.  Fascinating to see the magnitude of a structure built with mules, pulleys, and human muscle.  Several examples of hand drilled and split rocks are present. 

[twowings]

Mogollon, NM



https://www.newmexico.org/places-to-visit/ghost-towns/mogollon/

[Vagrant]

Personally, I like the road and hit it every other trip there. But, he did describe it right! It's one of the few roads that has a big warning sign before you start up it saying, do not attempt to bring a trailer up it. And yet last time I saw a mentally challenged individual start up it with a dually and about a 26' travel trailer. I watched just long enough to watch him trying to back it down the first turn/hill.

[twowings]

A few years ago at the New Mexico Datil rally, I rode on 180 south to Mogollon. It was said to be the most violent , wildest mining town in the west. My advise is Do Not Go There. Very remote and for 6 miles the paved road is narrow single lane with many blind tight corners. If you meet a vehicle it would be a catastrophe. No guardrails with 100+ feet drops. Interesting place though. Better to go to the Catwalk a few miles south near Alma. A definite must see and much safer. Amazing what the miners did to extract gold and silver.

Much more fun to approach Mogollon from the east on Bursum Road coming from Beaverhead!

[ridingron]

A big +1 on Bodie  in Ca. Was there many years ago with a couple of riding buddies.

[Motormike]

My favorite is Rhyolite, Nevada. About 2 hrs north of Las Vegas.

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

I love "ghost" towns!

Some that I passed through in 2022 when I did some touring in the south east, and then rode all of Route 66 on my V7 850, were Thurmond, West Virgina and Oatman, Arizona. Both fantastic areas to ride. Oatman is known for having more donkeys than people.

A friend's loaner 1973 Moto Guzzi Eldorado in Oatman.





My V7 850 in Thurmond, WV. The film "Matewan", which I really enjoyed, was shot there.




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