Idaho’s Creepiest Haunted Ghost Town Deserves a Visit

Maybe I’ve seen too many horror films, but visiting Burke, Idaho gave me a case of the willies.  I was vacationing in the Shoshone and Kootenai Counties.  One day I left Wallace and made the short drive to Burke.  I stepped out of the car with a camera and started taking pictures.  I didn’t stay long.  The place looked and sounded empty, but the entire time, I had a feeling I was being watched.

I’m not sold on the existence of ghosts.  I’ve seen and heard some things in life that make me wonder, but not much.  There were mining wars in the area in the late 1800s, and people were killed.  It was a brutal time in the Idaho panhandle, and there were a lot of tough men working the silver mines.

On the north side of what remains of the old town, the road dead ends.  There is a grove of trees and an occupied house at the end of the road.  I didn’t go exploring.  After all, I’ve watched a few too many slasher pictures.

You won’t find many ghost towns back east.  If there were any, they’ve mostly been plowed under and the wood carted away for other uses.  The West is a different matter.  Towns boomed briefly during various mining booms, and then just as suddenly, everyone left.

I visited a ghost town near Ely a couple of years ago.  To my surprise, when I got there much of it had been revived.  There are even some brand-new homes with wonderful views of the valley below.  People just gave me that look that said Tourist, and then went back to going about their business.

Burke is different.  It can make your skin crawl.

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