While making our way from Missoula to Seeley Lake, we decided to make a side trip to
Garnet - Montana's best preserved ghost town. Garnet, founded around 1895, is about eleven miles off Montana Route 200 (nine of which are on a well-maintained dirt road). The town was primarily a hard rock gold mining town, but its boom was short-lived, mostly ending by 1900. At its peak, Garnet had thirteen saloons, a grocery store, a barber shop, a mercantile store, and three hotels. It is amazing that many of these structures are still standing today.
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About seven miles along the road leading to Garnet you will come to the Sand Park Cemetery . . .
Make sure to take a few minutes to visit the graves of miners who worked primarily in Coloma
(Coloma is another ghost town in the area . . . the bottom of this post has pictures of what remains of the town) |
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We found it interesting how people have paid homage to these miners . . .
It appears that the coins are a form of tribute to the miners, much like graves of fallen soldiers |
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Shortly after leaving the cemetery watch for this old ranger cabin . . .
It was used to house the ranger who was on patrol for forest fires . . .
Today, it is used as a warming shelter for snowmobilers |
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| Here's a view of what you will find inside the cabin |
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| Soon after leaving the ranger cabin you will come to the ghost town of Garnet |
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Pictured above is one of the remaining hotels . . . Notice the pole sticking out above the second floor opening . . .
It used to have a pulley on it to hoist guests steamer trunks to their second floor rooms . . .
Miners rented cubicles and slept on the floor of the third story |
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| Can I offer any of you a drink? You look mighty thirsty! |
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This is Davey's Mercantile Store . . . it operated from 1898 to 1948
It was one of the town's first stores, and its closure, along with the death of owner Frank Davey,
marked the beginning of Garnet's decline into a ghost town |
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We found this display very interesting . . .
Each of the items had a card in front of it asking you, "What is it"?
To know the answer you turned the card over . . .
What do you think the item on the left was used for? It was a baby walker! |
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| Even some of the original wallpaper remains . . . several of the walls were lined with old newspapers |
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| Looking inside one of the guest rooms in the hotel |
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| Kent wandering around the remains of the miners cabins |
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Ever seen a three seater before? There was even a four seater outside the hotel!
Makes you wonder what kind of conversations went on while they took care of business! |
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This placard, outside one of the cabins, was rather interesting . . .
The owners allowed newlywed couples to live in it rent free for one year or until the next couple in town got married |
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| A picture of Main Street |
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| No, not ghosts from the past (at least not yet) . . . just us! |
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After visiting Garnet, and on our return trip to the highway, we saw a sign directing us to Coloma . . .
While there are several structures in the area, most are in a dilapidated state |
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| Probably the best thing Coloma has going for it are the views |
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| It looks like Coloma has a different kind of ghost living there today |
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Here's a picture from a scenic viewpoint along the way . . .
This is looking north towards Route 200 (in the valley) and Seeley Lake (nearer the mountain range) . . .
As you can see, Garnet sits up on top of the Garnet Mountains . . . thus it's name |
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| Bumblebees feeding on a flowering thistle |
If you choose to go to Garnet (and we hope you do), allow yourself three to four hours for the drive, exploration of the town, and a side trip to Coloma. We used this as our morning outing for our journey from Missoula to Seeley Lake. There is a $10/person fee to visit Garnet and can be paid at a self service kiosk in the parking area. These monies are used to preserve Garnet and keep it from becoming a ghost town like Coloma.
