We were in Montana a week ago and come across an old mining ghost town in our travels. We were headed west up into the mountains to camp for the night when we ran into a very strong thunderstorm. We changed our plans and looked for a safer place in the valley to camp for the night. I found a state park that was in the area and took a detour in that direction. I was bewildered by the location of this park being out in the middle of basically nowhere, and wondering what sort of natural attraction could be there. After a few miles of a dirt road we found the campground and it was empty and had our choice of sites to setup camp. After getting our gear around we decided to look over the area to see what might be of interest to photograph towards evening. Much to our surprise we discovered the reason for the location of this state park. This is the location of the old mining town of Bannack. The state took over the town a number of years ago and has left everything intact just as the miners left it years before. I was overwhelmed with delight because I am always in search of these kind of places in my travels. I was surprised to find that all of the building are accessible and you can walk in each one and see the original setting of each home and business. I have visited many old mining towns and this one was the most preserved and authentic old town I have ever been in. I made many fine photographs during our short visit. I made this image of the old schoolhouse towards evening as another thunderstorm was approaching. We saw many wonderful areas during our trip but this old town was a highlight for me.
