This Is One of the Best-preserved Ghost Towns in Montana

• Garnet, Montana, is one of the best ghost towns in the West, and it offers a chance to see what life was like in a 19th-century mining town.
• Once home to 1,000 residents and 13 saloons, Garnet was once a vibrant community before it was abandoned in the 1960s.
• Today, visitors can explore its original buildings year-round, and the nearby resort Paws Up Montana also provides special tours of the site.

While most travelers driving to Greenough, Montana—just about 30 minutes west of Missoula—head directly to Paws Up Montana, a World’s Best Awards winner in 2023, there’s one destination in between the two places that shouldn’t be missed. A short detour off of Montana Highway 200 will bring you to Garnet, a ghost town that looks straight out of “Red Dead Redemption 2.”

“Garnet is one of the best-preserved historic mining towns in Montana. Hard work from the Bureau of Land Management and the Garnet Preservation Association allows visitors to enjoy a firsthand experience of life in a mining town [from] the late 1800s and early 1900s,” says Jake Kvale, the activities manager at Paws Up.

As with many Western boomtowns of the era, gold was the driving force behind Garnet’s growth. The Garnet mines produced around $1 million, mostly in gold, between 1897 and 1917 some reports say it’s around $1.4 million). While you won’t find those riches in Garnet today, you will find a wonderful place to learn about Montana’s history and culture.

It’s a quick hike from the parking lot to get your first glimpse of the remnants of the town and the false-front commercial architecture frequently used to decorate Old West towns. Even in the bright light of day, you can feel the past lingering in the air. As you walk across the creaky floors and through the bedrooms of the three-story J.K. Wells Hotel, which is said to have been an elegant property by mining town’s standards in 1898. Step up to the bar at Kelly’s Saloon, or close your eyes while standing in the F.A. Davey General Store; it’s easy to picture what Garnet would have been like in its heyday.

“Mr. Davey was a central figure in Garnet’s history and development, and the store was a cornerstone of the town’s operations. Visiting this building feels like being at the crossroads of the town’s history,” says Kvale. He adds that the story is now “full of fascinating artifacts of all varieties.”

Old cans and bottles of beer at Kelly’s Saloon.

Stuart Thurlkill/The Resort at Paws Up

In 1898, Garnet had around 1,000 residents, as well as two barber shops, a candy store, and 13 saloons. “Garnet was more family and community-minded than many similar mining towns would have been,” explains Kvale. “There was a school that housed over 40 students, there were community dances on Saturday nights … and there were frequent community outings like sledding and skiing trips. Though there were certainly rough and tumble aspects of life in Garnet, the sense of community was very strong.”

Life in Garnet changed quickly, though, and by 1905, only 150 of those 1,000 residents remained. By the 1920s, following a 1912 fire and the start of World War I, Garnet officially became a “ghost town” for the first time. It did see a revival in the 1930s, when the price of gold nearly doubled, but most people left during World War II. The very last resident left in the early 1960s.

While anyone can stop in Garnet—it’s open year-round, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.—guests of Paws Up are able to take part in a couple of extra-special outings. “Guests can visit Garnet on guided ORV (side by side), snowmobile, mountain bike, or passenger vehicle tours,” says Kvale. Each tour also comes with an educational tour of the ghost town.