Customer Reviews

Ghost Towns of Colorado (Pictorial Discovery Guides)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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[Paired review with Arizona Ghost Towns & Mining Camps, by Philip Varney]

Ghost town books are traditionally rather scruffy affairs, with dim photos, little organization and an amateurish look. Philip Varney has raised the bar with these two books. Both feature clean design, good directions to the sites, excellent photographs and well-written text. Varley writes "I wanted a practical, informative guide that would give me the details I needed next to me on the sea of my truck." Both books are squarely on his mark.

The Colorado book is nicer: all the present-day photographs are in color, and the extra 24 pages allow more photos and a bit more depth to the text. But the Arizona book is no slouch: it has the advantage of Arizona Highways' long experience in producing good, easy-to-use guidebooks (plus it's cheaper). I've been to most of the sites in both books; in almost every case I've learned something new from his books. The photos are excellent, the maps and directions are easy to follow, and Varney's writing style is personable and informative.

Either book will make a fine companion for your next Colorado or Arizona vacation, even if you don't ordinarily pay much attention to ghost towns. Those with an interest in Western history *need* both books. And they're both excellent for armchair travellers. We're already talking about a Colorado trip next summer --Kathleen's never seen the *real* South Park.

Varney really has no competition for either state. These are the two best ghost-town guidebooks I'v seen. He'salso written ghost-town guides for New Mexico (1987?) and Southern California (1990); both are in print, but I haven't read them.

Happy reading--
Pete Tillman
Consulting Geologist, Tucson & Santa Fe (USA)

Pete Tillman visited his first Colorado ghost towns some 40 years ago, and has since been to hundreds more throughout the West, both for work and for fun. Vulture (AZ) is his current favorite "true" ghost. But, hmm, Bodie (CA) is bigger and better-kept.... And Jerome (AZ) has the best views... And I've *still* never been to Crystal (CO). So much to see, so little time....

I've always been fascinated by Colorado and its ghosts towns. This book contains detailed guides to many of the more interesting ghosts towns around Colorado. It also tells a little bit about the history of the towns, which is certainly a bonus. My one complaint is that it was not quite as thorough as it could have been. There were some areas of Colorado with fascinating histories that were left out. But, all in all, this is a good book for anyone interested Colorado and its amazing history. If you like this book, I would also recommend a new gem of a book I found entitled Colorado: Yesterday & Today.

This is an excellant resource for finding the Ghost Towns in Colorado. It gave detailed directions to locate them. The colored photographs were very interesting to look at and sparked our interest to track certain towns down. It was nice to have some history available from the book to know what went on in town and when its "hay day" was in our history. It is a very attractive book and could also be used as a coffee table book.

This is one of the best Colorado ghost town books I have seen, probably the best one. It does a good job of dividing Colorado up into specific areas that have many ghost towns to see. Then it divides those areas into principle sites and lesser sites. It gives you great driving directions and history of the towns. Overall, It is brilliantly put together.
I wasn't even going to write this review if it weren't for some of the reviews below mine. They got it all wrong. There are many great ghost towns left in Colorado. The reviewer that says they are just towns with an empty building or two, obvoiusly didn't look very hard or travel very far from his home in greater Denver. He probably didn't even get out of his Chevy Cavalier to explore. Maybe ghost towns are not for city slickers who don't understand. Some of the best ghost towns in the book are not all that easy to get to. I guarantee you that he did not venture anywhere near Animas Forks, Crystal, Marble, Buckskin Joe, Gothic or many other picturesque Colorado ghost towns worthy of post cards or old westerns. Yes, there are a few towns in the book that still have inhabitants in or near them. But they are most likely listed due to their great history and amazing buildings that still stand (Leadville).
I guarantee you that if you buy this book you will not be displeased. This book has the most wonderful pictures of ghost towns and Colorado history. I will also tell you from experience that you will not find a better Colorado ghost town book out there. This Author knows what he is doing, he has also written the best Arizona ghost town book available.

For people thinking they might seek out these "ghost towns" be warned. The definition of "ghost town" for the purpose of this book seems to be a town that was once larger than it currently is that has an abandoned building or two somewhere near it. The examples from the book that I've gone to see are pretty much ghost-free small mountain towns filled with more than a few current non-ghost residents. The book makes things appear desolate, and exotic but, for what I've experience so far, it's painting a pretty romantic picture of nothing too exotic.

I found this book very interesting and informative as a Colorado resident and avid ghost towns explorer. The pictures are beautiful, and the maps and directions are helpful. I keep this book whenever I drive out of town.

Varney hits a home run with this book. Outstanding in every respect. I am a veteran ghost-towner. And Varney's books are my guides to successful visits and photographs of ghost towns throughout the West. His detailed history, compelling photographs, and precise directions make this book, and all of his other ghost town books, the bible for ghost-towners.

S. Martin Shelton
Georgetown, Texas

I cannot wait to take this book to Colorado and start exploring. This book is wonderful.

Definitely the best ghost towns book in CO. I have read few and this one is only one I had purchased some time ago. So far I did not seen any better. My husband and I traveled to every location listed in this book, I have taken the same pics you see in this book and all is the way this books describes and more! A must for history lovers and/or offroaders.

This book is a great asset for anyone interested in Colorado histroy. As an avid amateur photographer, I purchased it hoping that I would discover some new places to photograph. However, I got much more.

Since the author defines "ghost towns" more broadly than many people, his book includes larger towns such as Idaho Springs & Leadville. Each section of the book includes a map showing all the pertinent locations in a given area and gives an in-depth history & description of each, including directions to each.