Be aware of the dangers when hunting for ghost towns. (Oregon State Archives Scenic Image 20170927-1434, 2017)
Oregon has over 200 ghost towns across its wide territory. From the eastern deserts, to the mountain timberlands, and the windswept coast. Hunting for them can be a rewarding, but dangerous excursion into the wilderness. Explorers might well encounter unforgiving terrain, as well as natural hazards like snakes, sunstroke, and shifting sands. Manmade dangers arise too. One must look out for open mineshafts, rusted nails or other debris, and watch for signs for private property to keep from trespassing.
Ghost towns can be hard to find. Sometimes nothing is left of a whole community aside from a few rotting posts lying on the plain. Successful ghost town hunters make extensive use of records, oral histories, and map clues to find their way. Often dead-end roads and railroads, mapped mineshafts or tunnels speak to former habitation. So too are unnamed rows of buildings, often a sign of company town housing, or mineral names for towns indicating a former mining operation.