David Martin Projects: 2020 Summer Road Trip Day 2, Part 1

Getting the Day Started! Day Trip to Garnet Ghost Town

Noi got up early this morning (as usual) while my lazy butt slept in until 7:30 am. After showering and eating the meager breakfast at the hotel, we got on the road to Garnet, an abandoned mining town about 35 or 40 miles East of Missoula (honestly, I forget to track the miles, but that's close). It was a beautiful drive up highway 200 from Banner, Montana. It was peaceful following the river as it wound its way up into the mountains. We got up there just after the park rangers opened the town for viewing and were definitely not disappointed, as the pictures will show. I had read several Websites about the town after my friend Amy Ward pointed this option out as something to do while here. Basically, the reviews of the town were that it was one of the coolest Ghost Towns in Montana and definitely one of the best preserved. We couldn't go into many of the buildings, but it was still cool to see. Anyway, when you first get to the parking area, you are greeted with a trail that winds through a treed area and then down a hill.

As you meander down the trail and then down a little hill, you are greeted with the first glimpses of the town, which is cool I have been to a few ghost towns over the years, but this one truly has more to see than most. Evidently at one time there were 1000 residents living in Garnet, but there was a fire that burned several of the structures, and it is clear that there was a forest fire here fairly recently that singed many of the buildings, but a lot of structures stand as a living memory of a wild and crazy time gone by.

Once you get into the town and start reading signage, peeking in windows and stepping into doorways, the experience becomes a bit more real, as does nature's efforts to reclaim what is rightfully its own. It is also clear that this was a very different kind of mining town in many ways. They had an actual school, which was evidently unusual for mining towns. They had several stores, multiple hotels and lodging spaces, and lots of miners cabins. They even had a jail to house the rabble rousers. It was a little piece of civilization in a very wild part of the country.

Noi standing in front of the Speakeasy.

The Speakeasy Sign

This was the original Saloon, which changed hands multiple times.

Behold, one of the town barns with space for grain storage.

This was the J.K. Wells Hotel, the luxury hotel of its time.

The Garnet Jail was later converted to personal living quarters.

Noi Standing in the Jail Doorway. What did you do, Noi?

Up the hill, currently on private property, sits the school house.

Closer Image of the Schoolhouse

As someone who absolutely loves learning as much as I can about history but only in a way that is experiential, this was a wonderful experience that I won't soon forget (although, I sometimes forget to turn off the burner or the location of my glasses). It was made especially amazing because of who my travel companion is and the fact that she always keeps life interesting and is up for adventure. I am very thankful to be able to share this vacation with Noi and then, by extension through this blog, with you. Below are a few more pictures from Garnet before I move on to the afternoon's mini-adventures.