Bayhorse Idaho Ghost Town – Idaho: Essential Guide, What to See and Do!

Bayhorse, Idaho is a ghost town that was originally founded in 1877, for silver mining in Custer County, Idaho. The Bayhorse ghost town is located between the small towns of Challis, Idaho and Stanley, Idaho. Preservation efforts of the Bayhorse ghost town have picked up in recent years, and today, you can walk the main roads of the town to check out the old buildings. Let’s get started!

Bayhorse Ghost Town – Quick Overview

Hours: 9 – 5pm. This is part of the Yankee Fork / Idaho State Parks system and there is a gate that closes off the town after-hours.
Cost: $7 per car – via drop box
Once you exit Highway 75 for the ghost town, you will have a 4 mile drive on a dirt road. I thought it was well-maintained and any vehicle could make it.
Bathrooms available on-site
Park rangers on site to answer questions
Time needed: We were here for about a half hour/45 minutes, not counting drive time.

Bayhorse Ghost Town – How to Get Here:

As mentioned above, the closest towns to Bayhorse are Challis and Stanley, Idaho. The map below shows the distance between Stanley and Bayhorse. Challis is the closest of the two towns and is only about 20 minutes away. If you’re coming from Stanley, the road, while a highway, is twisty and curvy as it follows the Salmon River, and it will take an hour. It’s a very nice drive but can get tiring!

Visiting Bayhorse Ghost Town

We visited Bayhorse ghost town after hiking Goldbug Hot Springs in the morning, which is about an hour north, near the town of Salmon, Idaho.

This is a pretty off-the-beaten path destination in Idaho, so you won’t find a lot of crowds here. The dirt road leading to Bayhorse is in decent shape – we were driving a 4WD SUV, but once we were at Bayhorse, we saw a few sedans in the parking lot. After driving the 4 mile dirt road, you’ll come right upon Bayhorse – you can’t miss it – it has a large paved parking lot.

Read More: See all my Idaho posts here!

Before heading off to see the old buildings, make sure you grab a brochure from the map station, as it will explain what each of the buildings were used for. Additionally, most of the buildings will have interpretive signage near them, so you’ll know what you’re looking at.

At its peak in the 1880s-90s, Bayhorse had between 300-500 residents living in this town – which to me, is quite small for a mining town. I’ve visited lots of ghost towns around the USA and I think this one was the smallest! When the 1900s rolled around, the price of silver took a dive, and the cost of getting the ore out of this small, isolated town inside of a canyon was just too high to complete. So, as with all ghost towns, so did the population of Bayhorse, Idaho dwindled down to nothing, and everything was left to rot.

Nearby! Read more: Sacajawea Hot Springs

Bayhorse became part of Idaho State Park system in 2006 – previously it was privately owned and not open to the public. When the Idaho State Park system took over, they completed the necessary clean-up efforts (the land was contaminated from the mining) and restoration needed to eventually open up the old townsite to the public for all to enjoy.

You can only view the buildings from the outside; you cannot go inside any of the buildings at Bayhorse.

The trail around the town is about a 1-mile loop. It’s unpaved, but the trail is wide and well-maintained. You will need to walk up a hill to see the big mill.

The old mill is the prominent feature of Bayhorse, and its coolest-looking building (in my opinion anyway)! The mill is located on a hill, overlooking the town’s homes and other buildings. I thought it was a very picturesque site, being that Bayhorse itself is located in a canyon.

Most of the remaining buildings were still in-tact, but some were in the process of restoration when we were there. I thought the Wells Fargo stone building was pretty cool!

Where to stay when visiting Bayhorse Ghost Town

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If you’re a camper, there are a few nearby campgrounds. Two are just further down the main dirt road you took to get to the ghost town: Bayhorse Campground and Little Bayhorse Lake Campground. Otherwise, there’s another campground off of Highway 75 just north of turnoff for Bayhouse: Bayhorse Recreation Site.

But if you’re like me, and not a camper, hotels it is! The nearby towns of Challis, Idaho and Stanley Idaho have got you covered.

We stayed in Stanley, Idaho for a few nights at the . I do recommend this hotel, though you should note that you will share bathrooms with other guests, and the rooms are located above a restaurant and bar. Check current prices and availability of the Sawtooth Hotel here. Or check all hotels in Stanley here.

Or, check current prices and availability of hotels in Challis, Idaho here.

Note: These two towns are both very small and have limited lodging. Book your hotel in advance!

Bayhorse Idaho Ghost Town – Final Thoughts

This is a great little detour if you’re traveling in this sparsely-populated area of Idaho, especially if you love abandoned buildings and ghost towns. The town is fairly small and it won’t take you too long to walk around and check out the buildings.

Have you ever visited an old west ghost town? Let me know in the comments!