3 Best Sights in Southwestern New Mexico, New Mexico

The ghost town of Kelly, 4 mi south of town, is reputed to be haunted, and during the Old Timers Reunion a 7K race finishes here (it begins in the village). During its boom time 3,000 people lived in the town. You cannot go into the mine, but you can get a permit to walk around and collect rocks at Tony's Rock Shop in Magdalena at 9th and Kelly (575/854–2401).

If you're heading southwest from Silver City (or west toward Arizona from Las Cruces), this is a fun stop. Portions of this settlement in the heart of a working ranch just outside the sleepy town of Lordsburg have been preserved as they were in the town's heyday as a gold and silver mining town in the late 1800s. Founded in 1856, the ghost town has been designated a National Historic Site, and original structures such as homes, saloons, and stables still stand. You'll find no snack shops or other tourist amenities in Shakespeare, as owner Janaloo Hill (who grew up on the ranch, and died in May 2005) vowed not to compromise the authenticity of this genuine piece of the Old West. Shakespeare is about 50 miles from Silver City via NM 90 through Lordsburg.

U.S. 180 leads northwest about 50 mi from Silver City to Glenwood and Whitewater Canyon—the gateway to the western reaches of the Gila. Return to U.S. 180, and go north 3 miles (just before the very little town of Alma, where you can get some snacks at the Alma Grill or Trading Post), and turn east onto NM 159. Your rewarding destination, about 45 minutes in, on a sometimes one-lane dirt road, is Mogollon (muh-gee-yohn). The gold-mining town, established in the 1880s, was a ghost town for many years but has been revived in the last few decades by a dozen or so residents who live there year-round. A small museum, an antique shop, and a café operate on the weekends. Book a stay at the Silver Creek Inn (www.silvercreekinn.com) and you can spend the weekend exploring this interesting relic of the American West, as well as the breathtaking, and huge, Gila National Forest bordering it.