Bannack State Park Campground & Ghost Town

  In its 158 years of existence no major fires swept through  Bannack so there are still over sixty buildings standing, many from the 1860s. They have been stabilized and repaired but are not restored. About twenty are opened to tour. There aren’t any interpretive signs - the buildings are numbered and a guide that’s sold at the visitor center provides a a detailed history.  The visitor center has a few exhibits and a short video about Bannack.

  The buildings contain very little in the way for furnishings but it’s interesting to see the layer upon layer of wallpaper and linoleum, and the rambling additions that have been added onto some of the houses. A caretaker let us look through a building where miscellaneous artifacts are stored to be used in the future.

 

  The visitor center is accessed by a ramp at the side entrance. Five or six of the buildings are accessible. The rest have steps or very high thresholds.  None of the sites in the campgrounds are designated as accessible but most can be used. The picnic tables do not have extended tops.

 

  We stayed at Road Agent Campground, one of the two campgrounds in the park. Road Agent is quieter and has more trees than Vigilante. It does not have a large turn around loop and is not suitable for large RVs. The ghost town parking lot has long spaces for RVs. Bannack  45.16236, -112.99925