To reach the ghost town, head south down Highway 69, listen closely, and take a left when you hear the soft rush of river rapids. Then, at White Bridge Road, turn left, cross the Boulder River and continue down the back road until you hit the loose gravel of Elkhorn Road. Keep to the road, weave through the valley and aim for the base of Elkhorn Peak.
There, about 20 miles from Boulder, you’ll find Elkhorn, riddled with collapsed homesteads and rusted relics from the bustling mining town it used to be. The sign to the right of the gravel road before entering the town states, “Elkhorn’s boom days ended in 1892 when the price of silver fell. Over time the population of Elkhorn fell to what you see here today.”
Elkhorn has 10 residents according to the 2010 Census, but today, John Bonan can think of only six full-time residents, and he is one of them. He lives in a cabin, an original homestead built in 1892 by his grandfather and great uncles who were hard rock miners at the time. Since then, it has been fixed and modified throughout the years as needed.
