South Pass City State Historic Site
Personal Notes
This page contains our personal notes on our visit to the South Pass City State Historic Site in Wyoming.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
12:28 p.m.
After making several stops along Highway 28 to visit the South Pass Historic Area, we drove on to spend a little time at South Pass City. On the way in along a graded dirt road we stopped to see the Carissa Mine site, which is being reconstructed, and is just up the hill from. South Pass City proper.
There is a small parking area along the road, and a small Visitor Center, where you'll have to pay a fee of $2.00 per person to visit the reconstructed ghost town. There are a few informational brochures available in the Visitor Center, and a map of the town.
It's a nice little ghost town that has been refurbished to show what the town looked like when it was occupied. There are not as many buildings as in some other preserved ghost towns, but it is unique to be able to see what these buildings looked like in their heyday. At most sites the paint and trim has completely faded away, leaving only old gray boards. There are also many historic items on display in most of the buildings, with descriptive signs.
There is also a short path that leads to a stamp mill and other mining equipment, and there is a small adit that seems to be available for guided tours, so that a visitor could experience what it is like to be down in an old mine.
There are a few scattered picnic tables in grassy areas, drinking water, and restrooms.
On our way back to the highway we drove through the little town of Atlantic City. It is sort of a ghost town, but there are a few people still living there.
