We have a 4wd pickup and drove up without too much trouble. Last time I really wanted to get up to the top where the mills are at, so that was the goal this time. The road can be rough in spots, but I grew up on dirt roads so I didn't think that it was too bad. This was our 2nd trip to Granite, the first time we couldn't get through everything because there was still a lot of snow on the ground. If you're going just for the ghost town, its not worth it. If you visit Philipsburg it's not a far trip. Wear long pants or spray yourself with Deet. The grass is high in spots and many other places you have to walk around to find what most resembles a trail. The granite ghost walk trail is not well maintained and is not marked well. The historical markers are mostly intact, but a few are well worn and hard to read. ![]() The bank, union hall, superintendent house,and mills a and b are in the best shape of all buildings. Look online and search for a map by "cascade bill mt05-001" and you can plan your hike. If you follow Google, take it until you get to a white street sign that says Granite and turn right.īeyond that the road was fairly well maintained, but it was narrow so take your time. Otherwise, this was a great disappointment to an otherwise awesome weekend in Philipsburg.įirst, don't try to follow Google maps, you'll be taken to a private drive or worse try to drive the terrible roads. If you like hiking with no other expectations and have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, by all means go. It looks like much of the town is now in private ownership. In fact, while we were there most of the traffic was from the private property owners getting to their properties through the ghost town. There are several trails that are pretty but not well marked, and several lead to private property. The "visitor's center" is park sign that has no maps, no information, and looks like it hasn't been seen by park rangers since the 60's. There are rock foundations everywhere so this should be labeled a ghost archeology site. ![]() The only buildings are the small bank which isn't labeled, the Union hall, and a couple of cabins that have collapsed. Once you got to the town we kept asking ourselves, "is this really a state park?" This is honestly the worst state park we had ever been to. Once you get to the park the roads went from bad to unpassable from the ruts. The views were great, but not worth the trip in a car. The roads to get there are poorly marked. I wished I had brought my truck, but even then the rocks on the road were so sharp I think any vehicle is vulnerable. ![]() The road to get to Granite was deplorable. Thankfully we went to Philipsburg for more than the Granite Ghost town, but we were excited to go since the Banack Ghost Town was the best one we had ever been to.
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