Blink and you’ll miss it: 4.8 miles past Eagle Nest [1], a small sign on the right side of the road points to the left-hand (west) turn for the former gold-rush site of Elizabethtown, the first incorporated village in New Mexico.
Once home to more than 7,000 people, it’s now a ghost town overshadowed by the stone ruins of the Mutz Hotel, the former center of social activity. The only signs of life are, ironically, in the cemetery, which is still used by residents of Colfax County and contains graves dating as far back as 1880.
The Elizabethtown Museum (575/377-3420, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. daily June–Aug., $2 donation) details Elizabethtown’s brief but lively history, from the discovery of gold in 1866 through assorted gunfights to the town’s slow fade after a dredge-mining project failed in 1903.
Links:
[1] http://www.moon.com/destinations/santa-fe-taos-albuquerque/taos/the-enchanted-circle/eagle-nest