An eerie peace: Taking in Jefferson’s historic ghost towns

Elkhorn State Park, besides being Montana’s smallest state park, is a ghost town — almost. During its silver-mining peak in the 1880s, Elkhorn bustled with 2,500 residents; a handful of people live there now.

If you are lucky, you will visit on a still day. From the parking area, you’ll walk by a dilapidated wood structure and the rusting remains of an old truck. It would feel too planned in any other place — like an architect was designing the perfect ghost town — but this is the real deal.

Almost all of the old structures, some with signs explaining their former use, are privately owned and used for residences. There are two you can enter: Fraternity Hall and Gillian Hall stand high above the surrounding buildings.