Hunting ghost towns

The best thing to do when driving is to avoid the interstate highways. There’s almost always a parralel historic highway with a few towns. I love ghost towns and there’s quite a lot in New Mexico (more than 400), so we drove a loop to see three different ones.
Gold Dust is completely gone, only a few stone walls remain, and part of it is privately owned by a copper mine.
Hillsboro still has 80 residents to its name, it’s 1100 less than a century ago. The general store converted as a coffee shop had the best pie I’ve ever had, American style, packed with fruits and covered with a crust.
Lake valley is a true ghost town, just a few buildings remain after a massive fire burnt the city to ashes in 1895. No one lives there anymore, the last resident left in 1994. But unfortunately for us they’ve put a gate and don’t allow people to go close to the buildings on Tuesdays…
Needless to say the drive in these remote areas was beautiful!