Can dogs see ghosts? I'm betting most people reading this are answering, "Of course my dog can see ghosts." Heck, even if YOU don't believe in ghosts, you probably believe your dog can see them. Dogs have long inspired the belief that they have the ability to see or communicate with the dead. We've all had the experience of observing our dogs react to something unseen or unheard (watch Animal Planet video). A dog's sixth sense or heightened awareness, while unexplainable, has been scientifically documented. Therapy dogs give early warning signs of epileptic seizures, heart attacks and diabetic comas. Whether it is psychic ability or a keener sense to subtle changes in chemical cues, who knows? I'm still waiting for the explanation as to why, after a long hike far from home, my dog can sleep for the entire two-hour car ride back and then pop up awake when we turn into the neighborhood.
Anyway, one of the unexpected pleasures of a hike with your dog is stumbling upon ruins in the woods or an overgrown field. Dogs - are they sensing paranormal activity - always seem especially eager to hop up on a dilapidated porch or poke around a stone cellar. With that in mind why not treat your dog to an entire ghost town? Normally associated with the Old West, it is possible to seek out abandoned settlements in reclaimed eastern woodlands as well. You say that when you travel with your dog you are tired of hearing people tell you “That dog can’t come in here” or “You have to put your dog on a leash?” Sounds like you need a ghost town. When you go hunting ghost towns with your dog you will find that “ghost” is a broad term. Some ghost towns still have a handful of people living in them; others are tourist attractions with actors and gift shops. Here are some ghost towns that are administered by state and federal governments as parks that look more or less the way they looked when abandoned...
Bodie (California)
William Bodey dug gold out of these barren hills in 1859 but he died in a blizzard that winter and never saw the town his strike would spawn. More gold was discovered in the surrounding hills and by 1880 the town was bustling with 10,000 residents. It was reported that there were 65 saloons operating in Bodie, to go along with the brothels, gambling halls and opium dens. Legend has it that there was a man killed in Bodie every day. After the gold played out the town soldiered on, tapping into the timber resources in the nearby mountains. Electricity even came to Bodie in 1911. But avalanches and fires crippled the town and, unlike other boom towns, endured a slow death. The National Park Service declared Bodie an Historic District and the State of California took over in 1962 to create a State Historic Park, preserving the remains of the town in a state of “arrested decay.” As a result, Bodie is one of the largest and best preserved ghost towns in the United States, with 170 buildings standing. Despite a 17-mile drive down a dusty road there is not unfettered access to Bodie as you can only go in during park hours, weather permitting. But this is no tourist trap - there are no re-creations in Bodie and no food and water for sale. The only business that intrudes on the ghost town aura is a small museum. You can bring your dog into the townsite and walk the gravelly streets peering into store windows with shelves still stocked and poolhalls with balls still racked on dusty, ornate tables.
Bodie, California
(760) 647-6445
www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=509
Rhyolite (Nevada)
The old mining town of Rhyolite fulfills every image you have ever had of a ghost town - abandoned buildings of some substance, stark desert surroundings and the feeling that you are the first person to visit the town in years. Aside from being remote Rhyolite is amazingly accessible - a paved road takes you straight into town. Although considered the “Queen City” of Death Valley, Rhyolite flamed up and burned out quickly, surviving little more than a decade. When quartz - an indicator of gold - was found all over a hillside in 1904 there were soon 2000 claims in a 30-mile radius of the townsite. Soon the population approached 10,000; the railroad arrived and the town was electrified. There were hotels, a hospital, a school for 250 children, a stock exchange and even an opera. The financial Panic of 1907 decimated the town and by 1916 the light and power were turned off forever in Rhyolite. Rhyolite is in Death Valley but not part of the national park; it is on Bureau of Land Management land so when you pull up, open the door and just let your dog out. There likely won’t be anyone around to say differently. Numerous ruins include a nearly intact train depot and the walls of a three-story bank. The highlight is The Bottle House, that a miner built from 50,000 beer and whiskey bottles - it was restored by Paramount Pictures in 1925.
Rhyolite, Nevada
www.nps.gov/deva/historyculture/rhyolite-ghost-town.htm
Bannack (Montana)
Bannack is the site of Montana’s first major gold discovery, where John White pulled placer deposits out of Grasshopper Creek on July 28, 1862. The town population swelled immediately to 3,000 and was named as Territorial Capital of Montana. In a familiar tale with placer gold rushes, the people drifted away quickly as the streams played out. But unlike other Western boom towns that fell off the map, more than 50 log and frame buildings still line Main Street, protected by the state of Montana as a park. While the goal of Bannack State Park is to preserve the site as a “real” ghost town there is a Visitor Center and tours but if you are looking for that ghost town-feel come to explore outside the summer months. This is the best preserved of all Montana ghost towns and you can bring your dog through the townsite and walk into any of the buildings that are not locked. Included in your explorations are the old cemetery, stripped of most grave markers; a crushing mill; a Masons Lodge; and an old gallows where Sheriff Henry Plummer, reputed stage coach thief and murderer, was hanged without a drop by vigilantes in 1864.
Dillon, Montana
(406) 834-3413
www.bannack.org/
Elkhorn (Montana)
Elkhorn boomed behind the discovery of silver by Swiss-born Peter Wys in 1870. Over the years almost nine million ounces of silver were extracted from Elkhorn Mine. After the railroad arrived in 1887 it was estimated that more than $30,000 a day worth of silver was being shipped out of Elkhorn. When the silver market crashed in the 1890s most of the people living in the town and gulches moved on to the next strike. A handful of people still live in Elkhorn and most of the buildings are privately owned but you are welcome to visit and follow the self-guided walking tour with your dog. Elkhorn Ghost Town State Park preserves two outstanding examples of frontier architecture side-by side: Fraternity Hall and Gillian Hall.
West Helena, Montana
(406) 495-3270
fwp.mt.gov/lands/site_281892.aspx
Custer (Idaho)
This mining town was founded the same year its namesake, George Armstrong Custer, was killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn, 1876. Custer and its sister city Bonanza flourished as the support center for the General Custer, Lucky Boy and other rich mines. Bonanza met a sudden end when it burned in 1897 while Custer’s demise was only a bit more prolonged. As the local mines played out one by one it was a ghost town by 1910. The Challis National Forest that administers 800,000 acres and is the gateway to the largest wilderness area in the lower 48 states took ownership of the townsite in 1966. Today a walking tour of wooden cabins, businesses and a school line a classic old Western one-street town.
Challis, Idaho
(208) 879-4100
www.fs.fed.us/r4/sc/yankeefork/index.shtml
Take the trail back to the February 2010 Newsletter
No Dogs Allowed?
Don’t let this happen to you
Sign up for a free subscription to our ONLINE newsletter -
THE WALK AND WAG RAG
ENJOY THE CURRENT ISSUE
FREE! Subscribe today and get your copy of Regulations For Dogs at 100
of the Most Popular National Parks in the United States...FREE!
YES, SEND ME MY MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER