The old west is one of the most iconic periods in the history of the United States. A unique time of lawlessness when pioneers and frontiersmen pushed west in search of a better life, it has been frequently documented and romanticised in books, movies, and TV shows for decades.
For true fans though, this won’t be enough, and they will want to experience the era first hand. This will inevitably lead to them searching for the best wild west towns to visit in America, to ensure they have the best experience possible. This isn’t always as straightforward as it may seem though.
As many of the top towns of the old west became ghost towns long ago, working out which offer the perfect combo of activities and atmosphere can be a challenge. So, if you want to see the old west in the best way possible, our list of the 10 best wild west towns to visit in America is sure to be of use.
Deadwood, South Dakota
Hidden away in western South Dakota, near Rapid City, Black Hills National Forest, and a collection of famed attractions like Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and Wind Cave National Park, Deadwood is one of the largest wild west towns still in existence anywhere in America.
Established in 1876, at the height of the Black Hills Gold Rush, Deadwood was a boom town named after the dead trees found in a gulch that surrounds it. Like many old west mining towns, its heyday was short lived, as a fire destroyed most of the town after only three years, in September 1879.
Despite a short time at the top though, Deadwood managed to develop a lasting reputation for being at the centre of countless historical events and being the home of several wild west legends, with the likes of Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, and Calamity Jane all having lived there.
Deadwood was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1961 and its gold mining industry continued until 2002, both of which have helped with its preservation. As a result, it is comfortably one of the very best wild west towns to visit in America.
With museums, historic markers and buildings, graveyards, and statues littering the town, you can get an in depth education on this wild west hotspot. Then, attractions like re-enactments of historic events, stagecoach rides, and gold mine tours will allow you to experience it for yourself.
Tombstone, Arizona
Found in south Arizona, near the United States – Mexico Border, Tombstone is the largest old west town to still exist. Established in 1877 as a silver mining town by prospector Ed Schieffelin, it was one of the most prominent boomtowns in the nation, thanks to the huge number of mines around it.
Like many mining towns, Tombstone’s star burned bright and fast. Its population exploded from 100 to 14,000 in just seven years, then dwindled to virtually nothing only 8 years after that, when it was declared a ghost town in 1892.
Tombstone’s history and importance never wavered though, and almost 40 years later, in 1930, efforts began to renovate the town. This included restoring famous buildings and locations, as well as establishing wild west attractions to draw in visitors and help them to embrace its history.
Throughout Tombstone you will find legendary sights, like the O.K. Corral, where you can see a recreation of its infamous gunfight, cemeteries where old west legends are buried, and a collection of buildings like saloons and brothels, many of which are alleged to be haunted.
There are even plenty of buildings that have been converted into museums dedicated to the history of Tombstone and the mining industry. This has all helped Tombstone to establish a reputation as one of the most popular ghost towns and best wild west towns to visit in America.
Dodge City, Kansas
Dodge City is one of the most legendary wild west towns in history. Located in the heart of the old west frontier, on the path of both the Arkansas River and the fabled Santa Fe Trail, the first buildings of the town were erected in 1871, to the west of the fort it was named after, Fort Dodge.
While businesses were established in Dodge City fairly quickly, it was the birth of the railroad and institution of quarantine lines in Kansas that really turned it into a boomtown. It soon became a prime destination for cattle drives, earning it the nickname the “Queen Of The Cow Towns”.
Eventually causing the creation of the Great Western Cattle Trail, an offshoot of the Chisholm Trail, it earned a reputation as a frontier powerhouse. This drew countless wild west legends to Dodge City, with gunfighters, bullfighters, frontiersmen, lawmen, cowboys, and outlaws all arriving.
Before long, Dodge City’s collection of brothels, gambling halls, hotels, and saloons was legendary, as was its bullring. The city still features many of these original buildings and locations to this day, as well as others that have been reconstructed in their original style.
This includes the Boot Hill Cemetery, China Doll Brothel, Long Branch Saloon, and Saratoga Saloon, while you’ll also find the Kansas Cowboy Hall Of Fame. For those wanting to learn more about Dodge City, the Boot Hill museum is full of artefacts and exhibits to educate you on the town in the 1800’s.
If you want to dive headfirst into the wild west experience, there is a wide range of western themed events and festivals held each year. Dodge City Days and the Dodge City Roundup Rodeo, as well as countless other smaller events are frequently running, to ensure you always have an incredible time.
Inarguably one of the best wild west towns to visit in America, there is no chance you’ll want to “get the heck out of dodge” anytime soon after arriving, which shows how far the city has comes from its lawless past when the legendary phrase was coined.
Cody, Wyoming
Settled in 1896 by legendary frontiersman William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody, the town of Cody, Wyoming is among the more lived in old west towns in the United States, having almost 10,000 residents.
Wild west enthusiasts will be hard pushed to find a better place to indulge their interest than at the Buffalo Bill Center Of The West. Recognised among the most remarkable museum complexes in the U.S, it houses the most comprehensive display of old west exhibits and artefacts on Earth.
The displays are spread across 5 separate museums, which are the Buffalo Bill Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, Plains Indians Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, and Draper Natural History Museum. This ensures even those highly educated on the old west will still learn plenty here.
Nicknamed “The Rodeo Capital Of The World”, Cody is best known for hosting the largest rodeo in the United States every 4th of July weekend, the Stampede Rodeo. The town then also hosts the Cody Nite Rodeo every night between June and September.
With additional attractions in Cody like the Historic Cody Mural & Museum, Old Town Trail, and parts of the town recreated to look how they would have done in the late 1800s, those seeking the best wild west towns to visit in America simply can’t pass up a trip to Cody.
With Wyoming being known as the “Cowboy State”, those able to dedicate more time to their trip will surely find plenty of other attractions dedicated to the old west spread across it as well, adding even more value to a trip to Cody.
Oatman, Arizona
One of the youngest towns on our list, Oatman was settled in about 1910, in the dying days of the old west. However, it still deserves its spot on our list of the best wild west towns to visit in America as the town’s population exploded in 1915, when miners discovered over $10 million worth of gold.
Oatman was extremely prosperous for about 50 years, before the mines largely dried up most of the residents deserted their homes. While a population of around 100 people have prevented it from becoming a ghost town, it hasn’t quite caught on as a tourist attraction like other similar towns.
This makes Oatman one of the best wild west towns to visit in America for those who want a really authentic experience. Its collection of historic buildings, wooden sidewalks, and open sections of mines allow visitors to explore Oatman’s past, without being surrounded by mobs of tourists.
You then also have attractions like staged gunfights and an infamous population of wild burros that roam the town to transport you back in time for an entertaining, immersive experience like no other.
Themed gift shops sell handmade souvenirs to help you remember your trip, while being located along Historic Route 66 means Oatman can be a great stop on a much larger historic road trip.
Virginia City, Nevada
One of the lesser known destinations on the list, Virginia City holds incredible historic significance as the site where the Comstock Lode, the first major silver deposit in the United States, was found in 1859. As a result, Virginia City was named a National Historic Landmark District in 1961.
Another of its major claims to fame is that Virginia City was the home of writer Samuel Clemens, before he changed his name to Mark Twain and became one of the world’s most successful authors.
While it may not hold the kind of old west history that some of the more notorious towns on this list do, it features enough attractions to still make it one of the best wild west towns to visit in America.
Beautifully restored buildings, wooden sidewalks, and sites like Piper’s Opera House, the Bucket Of Blood Saloon, Brass Rail Saloon, Delta Saloon, Ponderosa Saloon, Red Dog Saloon, Silver Queen, and the Washoe Club create an authentic atmosphere.
You even have a number of historic cemeteries and churches to explore, as well as 17 museums, like the Fourth Ward School Museum, Way It Was Museum, Silver State Police Officers’ Museum, and Fireman’s Museum, all filled with incredible artefacts and exhibits.
You can spend the day exploring Virginia City or the Comstock Historic Walking Trail on your own or get a guide and make sure you don’t miss a thing. These include options like horse drawn carriage tours, trolley tours, and walking tours, as well as tours of the town’s various mines.
Those staying for a little longer may even enjoy hopping on the Virginia & Truckee Railroad, which goes from Virginia City to Carson City via Gold Hill, to help you explore all of the area’s historic mining towns.
Bandera, Texas
As a town located in the heart of Texas, on the Medina River, and known as the “Cowboy Capital Of The World”, Bandera is a place that simply has to be included on any list of the best wild west towns to visit in America.
It is thought to have been settled in the late 1800s due to its location on the Great Western Cattle Trail. Locations like the Dixie Dude Ranch and Mayan Dude Ranch are both more than 50 years old and are great places to learn about this part of the town’s history.
Cattle drives aren’t the only notable historic events to have taken place here though. Vicious battles between Native American tribes, Spanish settlers, and cowboys also occurred, and the Frontier Times Museum details the entire history of the town, so you can delve into these darker events.
With attractions like chuckwagon cookouts, honky tonks, and saloons, and regular festivals, such as the Bandera ProRodeo, Cowboy Capital Christmas Night Parade, Cowboy Mardi Gras, Mayhem On The Medina, Spring Fling, and Wild Hog Explosion, Bandera is a great, highly overlooked destination.
Bodie, California
Settled in 1876, Bodie is a gold mining boomtown in central California, near Yosemite National Park and the Nevada border. One of the largest and longest running mining towns in the old west, it was active for almost 40 years, until it began to decline in 1912 and was declared a ghost town in 1915.
Designated both a California Historical Landmark and United States National Historic Landmark due to its importance, the Bodie State Historic Park was created in 1962. It was also listed as California’s “Official State Gold Rush Town”.
An incredibly popular attraction for history fans, about 170 buildings remain in Bodie, most of which are preserved to look almost how they would have during the town’s heyday. This includes a church, stamp mill, various homes complete with contents, and even a museum full of local artefacts.
With both guided and self-guided tours of the town permitted, it provides one of the most authentic old west experiences you will find, helping it to easily deserve its spot on our list of the best wild west towns to visit in America.
Calico, California
A former colemanite and silver mining town located in the hills roughly halfway between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, Calico was originally founded in 1881. While it thrived for the first 9 years of its existence, a drop in silver prices sent Calico into decline beginning in 1890.
By 1900 most residents had left, and it was completely abandoned by 1909. Despite being left to the elements, its location and climate helped preserve much of the town and in the 1950s it was bought by local farmer Walter Knott, best known for his Knotts Berry Farm haunted amusement park.
After taking ownership, he restored most of the buildings to appear just as they would historically have looked in the 1880s. This includes locations like a jail, miners’ cabins, a saloon, railroad office, and a variety of shops, such as a blacksmith and general store.
Between them, they give you the chance to ride a train down into the mine, see demonstrations of how the historic stores functioned and produced goods, enjoy an old-fashioned sarsaparilla, snap some unique photos, and buy handmade products.
Visible from the highway, which is a stretch of the Historic Route 66, due to its name being marked on the side of the hill with white rocks, Calico is one of the best, most overlooked wild west towns in America.
As governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger declared it “California’s Silver Rush Ghost Town”.
Cripple Creek, Colorado
Cripple Creek was established in October 1890 by Robert Womack and was the site of the “last great Colorado Gold Rush”. 18 months later, in June 1892, its population had reached almost 1,000 people and the camp and all surrounding settlements were renamed the Cripple Creek Mining District.
From then, thousands of prospectors travelled to Cripple Creek from across the globe and its population quickly eclipsed 5,000 people. Before long, the Independence Lode, one of the world’s largest gold deposits, was discovered.
Cripple Creek peaked around 1905, at which point it had 35,000 residents, making it the 4th most populous settlement in Colorado. By this point, 22.4 million ounces of gold had been extracted from the mines, worth roughly $500 million.
In order to accommodate this huge population, vast infrastructure including assay offices, barbers, brothels, casinos, churches, doctors, department stores, grocery stores, hotels, lawyers, newspapers, restaurants, saloons, schools, stockbrokers, and even a college had been established.
However, by 1910, many of the mines had started to dry up and people began leaving in their droves. While the town was never completely deserted and mining continued there until the early 2000s, its population dropped as low as just a few hundred people.
Declared a United States National Historic Landmark in 1961, it remained a semi-ghost town until 1991, with just a few facilities open for tourists visiting the iconic location. It was then that the state legalised gambling in the town and it entered a renaissance.
Many of the historic stores and buildings were quickly turned into casinos and gambling halls, which drew back those seeking an authentic wild west experience. With other attractions like the Cripple Creek Heritage Center and Butte Opera House, the town offers the complete old west experience.
You even have the Cripple Creek And Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad. A 4 mile (6.5 km) circular track that runs historic steam trains, trips will pass multiple ghost towns, glory holes, and gold mines, some of which offer tours, helping you to see the entire region how it once was.
Conclusion
That concludes our list of the 10 best wild west towns to visit in America. From big, famous locations like Deadwood and Tombstone to lesser known destinations like Calico, and from mining hot spots to cow towns, you should now have plenty of places to go and experience the old west for yourself.
For those who really want to soak in the culture, you could even go on a road trip between two of the towns, through the “Cowboy State”, for an immersive wild west expedition. However you choose to see it though, all that’s left to do is to make the leap and get things booked.