Ashcroft Colorado Ghost Town

In the spring of 1880, Charles B. Culver and W. F. Coxhead left the boomtown of Leadville, Colorado to search for silver deposits in the Castle Creek Valley. By 1883, their camp became the town of Ashcroft. The town had nearly 2,000 people with two newspapers, a school and courthouse, sawmills, a small smelter, 20 saloons and was in close proximity to the railroad in Crested Butte.

Unfortunately, Ashcroft went bust almost as soon as it materialized. The mines, which initially produced an amazing 14,000 ounces of silver to the ton, were just shallow deposits. Promised rail links to Crested Butte never amounted to anything, and investors lost interest leading to workers leaving the area.

Ashcroft became a ghost town. Only a handful of aging, single men made Ashcroft their home by the turn of the century. However, in the 1930s a new flurry of interest rose by international sportsman Ted Ryan and his partner Billy Fiske. They built the Highland-Bavarian Lodge just north of Ashcroft on Castle Creek Road, and planned a European-style ski resort in Ashcroft with an aerial tramway up Mount Hayden.

These plans to make Ashcroft a ski resort were interrupted by the advent of World War II. Fiske died in combat and Ryan leased the town to the army for $1 a year. The 10th Mountain Division, America's soldiers on skis, used Ashcroft for mountaineering training in the summer of 1942. After the war, developers focused on Aspen as a ski destination, and Ryan later deeded Ashcroft to the United States Forest Service.

In 1948, Stuart Mace, a veteran of World War II and commander of a canine division, brought his family and dog sled operation to Ashcroft. In exchange for caretaking, Mace was given use of five acres on behalf of the Highland-Bavarian's remaining holdings. Mace devoted the rest of his life to protecting the area from development and restoring the ecology. In 1974, the Aspen Historical Society joined Mace in his efforts.

Ashcroft became a National Register Historic Site, and the Aspen Historical Society received the first U.S.F.S. permit ever granted to a historical society to preserve and interpret a ghost town. Ashcroft Ghost Town is located on Castle Creek Road, approximately 10 miles south of Aspen. From mid-June to mid-September, guests may tour the remnants of this ghost town, which includes original and replicated buildings.