Wyoming's abandoned landscape is defined by the scale of the American West — gold rush ghost towns at 9,000 feet in the Wind River Range, an 1870s mining city where Amelia Earhart once owned a cabin that was destroyed by avalanche, Cold War missile silos buried under the sagebrush and the Oregon Trail ruts still visible in the Wyoming prairie. Here are 5 of the best abandoned places in Wyoming, selected from our Abandoned Places Map USA — 5,000+ GPS locations across the United States.
Why Wyoming Is a Hidden Gem for Abandoned Buildings & Urban Exploration
Wyoming's sparse population — the least populated state in the continental United States — means its abandoned sites are genuinely remote and genuinely undisturbed. The high-altitude dry climate preserves wooden structures for over a century while the state's history of gold mining, railroad building and Cold War military infrastructure creates an urbex landscape unique in scale and isolation.
1. South Pass City – 1867 Gold Rush Town Where Women's Suffrage Was First Enacted, 30+ Buildings Still Standing, Fremont County (Known Location)
Founded in 1867 when gold was discovered at the base of the Wind River Range, South Pass City briefly boomed to 2,000 residents and achieved a place in American history far beyond its size — in 1869, the Wyoming Territory enacted the first women's suffrage legislation in American history, and Esther Hobart Morris of South Pass City became the first woman to hold judicial office in the US as a justice of the peace. When the gold played out the town emptied rapidly. The Wyoming State Historic Site preserves over 30 original buildings — the hotel, saloons, stamp mill, miners' cabins and the assay office — in a remarkably authentic state of arrested decay. One of the most historically significant abandoned places in Wyoming.
🔗 Learn more: Wikipedia – South Pass City
2. Kirwin Ghost Town – 1890s Silver Mining Town Destroyed by Avalanche 1907, Amelia Earhart's Cabin Site, Park County (Known Location)
Founded in 1895 when silver was discovered in the Absaroka Mountains of Park County, Kirwin boomed briefly before a catastrophic avalanche in 1907 destroyed much of the town and killed several residents. What remained was slowly abandoned. Amelia Earhart visited in the 1930s and purchased a cabin here with the intention of building a summer home; she disappeared over the Pacific in 1937 before completing it. The cabin site, several surviving structures and the avalanche debris field are accessible via a 9-mile trail from the Wood River Road. One of the most historically unusual and most scenically extraordinary abandoned places in Wyoming — a ghost town at altitude, in an Absaroka mountain valley of exceptional beauty.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Best Abandoned Places in the USA →
3. Abandoned Wyoming Titan I Missile Silo – 1960s ICBM Complex Beneath the Sagebrush, Underground Launch Chambers Sealed, Platte County (Exclusively on Our Map)
Wyoming's position in the American interior made it prime territory for Titan ICBM missile sites during the Cold War — the missile silos were positioned to target Soviet cities across the polar routes while being sufficiently inland to survive initial nuclear attack. A Platte County Titan I complex retains the surface infrastructure above the sealed underground launch chambers — the access road, the support buildings and the distinctive concrete silo entry points visible in the Wyoming sagebrush. One of the most evocative Cold War abandoned places in Wyoming — nuclear warheads once aimed at Soviet cities, now visible only as concrete outlines in the high plains landscape. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
4. Abandoned Wyoming Union Pacific Railroad Town – 1860s-1880s Transcontinental Railroad Service Community, Depot and Commercial Block Still Standing, Carbon County (Exclusively on Our Map)
A 1860s-1880s Union Pacific transcontinental railroad service town in Carbon County — built when the First Transcontinental Railroad crossed Wyoming and needing service towns every hundred miles for coal, water and crew changes. The depot with original waiting room woodwork, the brick commercial block and the water tower still stand above the Wyoming plain, the railroad grade still visible through the sagebrush. When diesel locomotives eliminated the need for coal and water stops, these Union Pacific service towns lost their entire economic reason to exist virtually overnight. One of the best abandoned places in Wyoming for transcontinental railroad heritage photography. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
5. Abandoned Wyoming Sheep Ranch – 1890s-1930s High Plains Wool Operation with Woolshed and Bunkhouse Intact, Sublette County (Exclusively on Our Map)
A 1890s-1930s sheep ranch in Sublette County's high plains — the woolshed with original shearing floor and wool press still in place, the bunkhouse with iron frame beds and the corrals with juniper post fencing. Wyoming's sheep ranching industry was one of the most economically important in the American West through the early 20th century, when conflicts between sheep and cattle ranchers were sometimes violent. The consolidation of the ranching industry and changing economics emptied these operations; this complex is one of the most complete surviving examples of Wyoming's wool era infrastructure. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
Safety Tips for Urban Exploration in Wyoming
- Wildlife: grizzly bears, mountain lions and rattlesnakes are present across Wyoming — always carry bear spray, make noise on trails and never approach wildlife
- Altitude and isolation: South Pass City sits at 7,800 feet and Kirwin is at over 9,000 — altitude sickness is possible; always acclimatize and never hike into remote areas without proper gear and emergency supplies
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person and let someone know your location
The urbex code applies everywhere: "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints."
❓ FAQ – Abandoned Places in Wyoming
What is the most famous abandoned place in Wyoming?
South Pass City — an 1867 gold rush town where Wyoming Territory enacted the first women's suffrage legislation in American history in 1869. Over 30 original buildings are preserved as a Wyoming State Historic Site in Fremont County, making it one of the most historically significant and most authentically preserved ghost towns in the American West.
What is the Kirwin ghost town and what does Amelia Earhart have to do with it?
Kirwin was an 1890s silver mining town in the Absaroka Mountains destroyed by avalanche in 1907. Amelia Earhart visited in the 1930s and bought a cabin here intending to build a summer retreat; she disappeared over the Pacific in 1937 before completing it. The cabin site and several surviving structures are accessible via a 9-mile trail from the Wood River Road in Park County.
Why is Wyoming the least populated state?
Wyoming's combination of high altitude, extreme winter temperatures and limited arable land made large-scale settlement difficult. The state's economy has been dominated by extractive industries — cattle, sheep, coal, oil and natural gas — that employ relatively few people per acre. The result is the lowest population density of any state in the continental United States and an extraordinary concentration of genuinely remote abandoned sites.
🎯 Summary
Wyoming's abandoned buildings range from the gold rush town where American women first won the right to vote, to an Absaroka mountain ghost town with an Amelia Earhart connection and Cold War missile silos buried under the endless sagebrush plain. Each of these 5 abandoned places in Wyoming captures a different dimension of America's least populated state — a place where history happened in enormous scale and then simply walked away across the high plains.
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