Braving the Spokane Ghost Town
If you’re looking for a short hike with some spooky fun for the kids, Spokane Ghost Town is just what you need!
Spokane, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, was founded in 1890 as a mining town. Gold, silver, copper and zinc were found here. By the 1940’s, the ore was mostly exhausted and the town was abandoned shortly after.
There are several different starting points to get to the Spokane Ghost Town. We parked at the Spokane Creek Cabins & Campground on Iron Mountain Rd southeast of Keystone, SD.
Once you are out of your vehicle, you can look across Iron Mountain Rd and see a small white sign next to the trail.
You will cross a small stream before heading to your left to follow the trail. The path is not marked, but is easily visible and is only about a half mile until you reach the ghost town.
The first clue that you are getting close is a stone wall off to the right that looks to be the remnants of an old building.
As you continue on, you will spot a structure on the left across the meadow. As you follow that trail, you will begin to notice other buildings and old vehicles hidden in the trees.
This is the point that my boys stopped complaining about me “making them walk forever”, and started to enjoy themselves! I’ve got 5 kids and these are my youngest two, so I’m kind of an old school mom that doesn’t get overly worked up when my boys are well, “being boys”. If you are a little more of a cautious parent, be warned, there are several open wells and lots of places a kid (or adult) could get injured. So, make the decision that you feel is best for you and your family on how much free rein to give any little ones!
The old buildings were fun to explore and some of the creepy graffiti made it even more exciting for the boys.
I really wanted to play along and scare the boys when they asked about some of the creepy sayings. But, I took the boring mom route and explained it was just some teenagers trying to scare little kids. (Sometimes being a grownup is no fun!)
Once we explored the area, we headed back to the parking lot. It ended up being a total of about a mile and half out and back.
