Now just a remote outpost of abandoned buildings and mining equipment, Animas Forks was home to as many as 500 residents from the 1870's through the 1900's. People braved the harsh conditions at 11,200ft until the ore ran out, and the town's primary mine closed in 1910, leaving the town completely abandoned by the 1920's.

Ringed by peaks, deep in the San Juan Mountains, access to the town is via rough dirt roads, some of which form Colorado's famed Alpine Loop four-wheel-drive route.

Animas Forks, Colorado, USA.