Finding A Ghost In Kirwin, Wyoming
Bumping along a dirt road, seeing oodles of trees swaying gently in the wind, watching the curve of the road as we take a slight right or a slight left, I wondered what we would see. Would we find a ghost haunting a previous homestead, longing for life once again in the only house they had ever known? Or would we find a bear as this is bear country, hidden snuggly in a bush, waiting to make its presence known? Kirwin was calling us, beckoning us to seek and discover, not be afraid, but to go forward with anticipation and eagerness.
Kirwin ghost town is located close to the small niche town of Meeteetsee, a town that warrants a visit for all with its small old time building along the highway, a garage, an eatery and a antique store. and friendly people.
But before we explore Kirwin, here are some “must-have” things you will need to do first:
A 4x4 is a must! Make sure it is in good working order as there are no services once you leave Meeteetse, plus cell phone coverage may be sketchy.
If you do not have a 4x4, you can rent a side by side and drive yourself there or have someone at the facility drive you. Here is a LINK for more information on renting a side by side.
You can also book a tour and leave the driving to someone else as you sightsee. Here is a LINK for more information on tours.
Bring food and water. This trip will take some time to investigate, plus you want to take photos of the fabulous landscape on the way to Kirwin, which leads me to:
Bring a camera or use you phone! An absolute must for exploring Kirwin!
Here is a LINK with reviews of Kirwin Ghost Town.
This is what I would call an “in and out trail,” which is what is says: you go in and turn around to go out.
This is BEAR country! I saw a man carry a rifle in this town, although he could have been hunting. Use the protection you need.
Let a loved one know where you will be. This is an isolated ghost town.
Kirwin was once a mining town as mining was popular so long ago. It had a post office, in which most towns get started with a post office, a hotel, general store, cabins for residents and even a famous would-be resident: Amelia Earhart. She had a cabin in the process of being built when she disappeared and the remains of the cabin are still there.
Usually a demise of mining towns is when a precious metal has ran its course, such as gold or silver. But in Kirwin’s case, an avalanche came tumbling down on the small town and destroyed some of the buildings. After that, people decided it was time to pack up and leave. Wyoming gets a lot of snow and since Kirwin is so far away from civilization, maybe the people did not feel safe staying there.
As I said earlier, the road is bumpy, but there are some smooth spots your back can feel relief on. The dirt road gently goes up and down on hills, with some twists and even questioning if you are going the right way, and do not worry, because it is the only main road, with maybe an exception of a short road off somewhere.
There is a river that you will cross at least 4 times. We were lucky as the river was not too high, even though we experienced the massive flooding from Yellowstone in the summer of 2022, which did affect the river. But for us this day, we had sunny, blue skies, a few white puffy clouds and miles to see all around us.
Once we got to the ghost town, there is a small parking area for your vehicle if you drove. There are some nearby restrooms with vault toilets and picnic tables should you choose to have a picnic. Remember this is a one way trail so once the road ends, it ends. You will walk on a narrow, somewhat of a home-made bridge to cross the river on your feet this time.
The buildings are in plain view, so lets get out and explore! The buildings are in pretty good shape and so pretty with the large mountains as a backdrop. You will find the remains of the general store, a mining area, cabins with small kitchens (how did women cook in those kitchens?), wildflowers and maybe some cows. Yep, this is also cattle country.
Sometimes it felt kind of creepy as most ghost towns can be. 3 people were killed when they had an avalanche, so who knows, maybe they are still roaming around the town? Some ghost towns we have visited, literally the hair on my arms stood up and it was not from the cold as we live in the desert and it can get pretty toasty in the desert.
Before we knew it, we were done exploring and taking zillions of photos, and it was time to go. I really enjoyed exploring this little part of Wyoming as this state as so many place to discover.
How about you? Would you be willing to visit this amazing ghost town?
