Visit One Of Michigan’s 70+ Ghost Towns Using This Cool Map

Happy Hallo-week, everyone, the spookiest time of the year. Each year, my sister and I try to do something different to get into the holiday "spirit" 👻. This year, we're doing a haunted tour of the Amway Grand Plaza in Grand Rapids, and I'm very excited about it.

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However, there is something I've kept bookmarked for some time that I think is one of the coolest passion projects I've seen from around the state, documenting over 70 ghost towns across Michigan. 

Whether you want to visit one for the spooky season or are just curious to see the remains of a town that is nothing but a shell of its former self, this is the map to find them.

EagleEyeExplorer's Ghost Town Map

These are the spots that EagleEyeExplorer (EEE) has painstakingly plotted on their Michigan Ghost Towns map, with 73 places currently included. According to the map description, most ghost towns around Michigan are former logging or railroad towns. EagleEyeExplorer claims that after all the trees were gone or the train tracks were ripped up, the towns were abandoned and withered away.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE MICHIGAN GHOST TOWN MAP

EagleEyeExplorer has visited each marked location, and a brief history of the town is provided for each spot. It's an incredibly in-depth collection. EEE clarified that not every one of these is a "ghost town"; instead, some are partial ghost towns and shadow towns.

Ghost Towns of Michigan

It should be noted that when most people think of a ghost town, the image of an old village in the desert is what typically comes to mind. These ghost towns, like the one above, can remain in the "ghost town" condition they are known for due to extremely arid conditions and a lack of fluctuating weather. This keeps the buildings in moderate condition. Death Valley has quite a few ghost towns.

These are not the type of ghost towns you'll find in Michigan. Instead, what is more common are remnants of the town that once stood there: a single building, a chimney, or the foundations of a building. These are the types of places highlighted on the map, like the one in Fern.

The EagleEyeExplorer hopes to launch a YouTube channel soon to document these forgotten or evolving spaces better.