Vulture City, Arizona

Arizona's best ghost town for a winter road trip. Henry Wickenburg found gold here in 1863, and at its peak around 5,000 people lived and worked at what became the richest gold mine in Arizona's history. The government shut the mine during World War II, and the town was soon abandoned. Many original buildings still stand, from the stone assay office and the cookhouse to Henry Wickenburg's own cabin and the twisted ironwood known as the hanging tree, and restoration has gone on since 2017. It is privately owned and opens in the cooler months, roughly October to May, with self-guided daytime visits and evening flashlight tours, so check the days before driving out of Wickenburg on Vulture Mine Road.