Garnet, Montana

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Garnet, Montana, located on Wallace Creek Road, a dirt road in Montana, United States, is an abandoned mining town from the 1860s. In First Chance Creek in western Montana, the town is at the edge of the high desert in the Front Range, but sheltered in a forest. The town is at about 6,000 feet elevation.

Garnet was named for Garnet, a semi-precious stone, and the first item to be mined here, although gold quickly followed. In 1898, as many as 1,000 people lived here;[1] it was abandoned 20 years later when the gold ran out. A fire in 1912 destroyed half the town, which was never rebuilt.

Despite this, Garnet is one of the state's best preserved ( and least visited ) ghost towns. Probably because the town is so inaccessible, it has never been exploited as a Tourist trap. Visitors can book tours with local guides, however, and the end of the summer sees the annual Garnet Day festival.

The nearest city to Garnet is Missoula, about 20 miles to the west. There are several smaller towns to the east, but the closest city to the east is Butte, about 100 miles away.