Colorado · Ghost town
Animas Forks
One of the highest mining camps in North America at 11,185 feet, twelve miles above Silverton, and buried for half the year.
Position San Juan County, Colorado · 37.9311, -107.5714
Animas Forks stands at 11,185 feet in San Juan County, twelve miles northeast of Silverton. That elevation makes it one of the highest mining camps ever established in North America, and it explains everything about how the place worked.
Snow depth here was measured in feet rather than inches, and residents dug tunnels between buildings rather than walking above ground. Many simply left for the winter and came back in spring.
The site is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and several buildings have been stabilised, including a well known house with a bay window that appears in most photographs of the town.
Access is by four wheel drive over the Alpine Loop, open roughly late June to September depending on snow. This is not a place to attempt in an ordinary car, and the weather at that altitude turns fast.
Facts checked against the Wikipedia article Animas Forks, Colorado. The words above are ours.