The story
St. Elmo is usually called the best-preserved ghost town in Colorado. It sits at nearly 10,000 feet in Chalk Creek Canyon, about 40 minutes southwest of Buena Vista at the end of County Road 162.
Founded in 1880, the town served the Mary Murphy mine and the Denver, South Park & Pacific railroad, which climbed the canyon on its way to the Alpine Tunnel under the Continental Divide. Close to 2,000 people lived here at the peak. The mines weakened first; the railroad kept the town breathing until the line was abandoned in 1922, and most of the remaining residents left with it.
The Stark family stayed for decades afterward, running the general store and looking after the buildings — a big part of why so much of St. Elmo is still standing. The store still opens in summer, mostly to sell feed for the chipmunks that have replaced the miners.
What remains today
Around forty original buildings along a dirt main street — the general store, town hall, schoolhouse, and rows of false-front shops and cabins. Aspen and Tincup Pass trailheads are nearby.
From the field
The most valuable part of this record is the part only visitors can write.
Stamp your passport
Check in at St. Elmo — GPS-verified visits earn an inked stamp.
File a field report
Road conditions, what's still standing, what's gone — your report joins the record.
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Credited, dated, and preserved as part of St. Elmo's permanent record.
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