Missouri offers tons of great road trip options, but none offer creepy thrills quite like a jaunt on I-44 to walk through ghost towns where time has utterly stopped. You’ll start in either St. Louis or Springfield, stopping along the way at eight deader-than-dead abandoned spots. This ghost town road trip in Missouri is sure to spook and thrill.

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1. Columbia Bottom Conservation Area
Heath Cajandig/Flickr
Start your trip with a visit to the Columbia Bottom Conservation Area. Now a huge conservation area at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, the area was once the site of St. Vrain. When developers finally realized that the wetlands were not great for building on, the community was abandoned by 1870. No one knows how many once called it home. Although nothing left of the town remains, it's an eerie testament to how quickly nature can erase the work of human hands.
2. Times Beach
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Today, you can visit Times Beach's one remaining building: what was once a roadhouse is now the park's visitor center.
Jack Miller/Flickr.com
3. Arlington
Fred Harvey/Wikimedia
Head southwest a while until you hit the Fort Leonard Wood area. Leave I-44 at Newburg, then travel the original two-lane Route 66 until you reach what remains of Arlington, which was once a bustling resort town that was established in the 1860s. One particularly popular destination was Stony Dell Resort, where visitors could swim, dine, fish, boat and more. When Route 66 was rerouted in the 1940s, the town began to decline.

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Larry Myrhre/Flickr
Until recently, there was one remaining business: a caravan park that shuttered in 2008. Today, a few cabins, as well as Stony Dell's restaurant and gift store, remain.
4. Bloodland
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/Wikimedia
About 45 minutes southwest of Arlington along I-44 is Bloodland, a ghost town that some say is haunted by the community's former residents. Bloodland ceased to exist in 1940, when Fort Leonard Wood was built. At the time, the then-living town included a high school, two general stores, and a population of around 100.
5. Possum Trot
GoogleMaps
Continue on I-44 until you're south of Springfield. Just eight miles southwest of Nixa, you'll find what remains of Possum Trot: a church and a house. Earlier in its history, the town was known as Self. Now, it's just silent.
6. Monark Springs
Doug Wertman/Flickr
Head west on US-60 until you reach Monark Springs. Now a state conservation area, this abandoned town was the source of an outbreak of typhoid fever in the 1950s. Specifically, the outbreak surfaced at a national Church of God meeting, which hundreds attended from all over the country. It didn't go over well.
7. Garber
Ozark Postcard Publishers/Wikimedia
Travel north on 59 toward I-44 and head east on Aspen Road until you hit the ghost town of Gerber. This small town is where Aunt Mollie and Old Matt from the iconic The Shepherd of the Hills (pictured) book and (now shut-down) stage play were from. Founded in the late 1800s, the community slowly grew until the 1920s, when trains ceased making a stop there. Cars became widespread, but the good roads necessary to use the new mode of transportation was not built in Garber. In 1928, the town's general store and post office burned down, and the population slowly dwindled. Today, all that remains is a stone church.
8. Georgia City
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Make your way 15 miles north of Joplin to all that remains of Georgia City—the cemetery. The town was founded in the 1860s by John C. Guinn. Although it prospered for a time, it eventually became abandoned.

Have you visited any of these spooky abandoned places in Missouri? What do you think? Are you going to take this interesting ghost town road trip in Missouri? Let us know!

Interested in more information about Times Beach? This article goes into more detail about this intriguing ghost town

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More to Explore

Ghost Town Road Trip in Missouri

Tori Jane | May 07, 2021

What are some scary places in Missouri?

Missouri is an old state with some dark history, and with that dark history comes some super-creepy ghost stories and locations that will send chills up your spine. Missouri State Penitentiary, for example, is often thought to be one of the most haunted places in the state. There are some amazing, ultra-spooky mansions throughout the state, too, like the Lemp Mansion and the Beattie Mansion. We’ve also got an assortment of haunted hotels, motels, inn, plantations, and more. If it’s spooky, it’s probably somewhere in Missouri. Click here for a road trip through some of the creepiest places in the state! 

How many ghost towns in Missouri are there?

Missouri is home to several dozen abandoned and ghostly towns. Places like Lone Tree, Monark Springs, Possum Trot, Georgia City, and many others are considered ghost towns. Once upon a time, Missouri had a booming mining economy, but over time, it withered and eventually died. Today, many of those towns are exactly what they sound like - ghosts, forgotten by history and left to decay in the dense, wooded areas of Missouri where few people ever go. It’s hard to put an exact number on just how many of these towns are floating around out there, but it’s safe to say that there’s more than a handful. 

What are some of the best road trips in Missouri to take?

Missouri is a great state for road-tripping, no matter what anyone says. Some people might call us a “flyover” state, but that’s just because they don’t know where to look to find the good stuff. No matter what your interests are, you can probably find a road trip to satisfy the craving. Take a drive to Ha Ha Tonka State Park and swim in the crisp lake nearby. Maramec Caverns is one of Missouri’s most notorious hideouts for criminals back in the day, and today, it’s a fascinating place to discover all the intrigue of a living cave system. You can take a ride to go see the house Daniel Boone moved into in 1799. It seems like history buffs in particular will really appreciate the roads in Missouri! 

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Featured Addresses
Columbia Bottom, St Ferdinand Township, MO 63138, USA
Route 66 State Park, 97 N Outer Rd, Eureka, MO 63025, USA
Arlington, Missouri, USA
Bloodland, MO 65473, USA
Possum Trot, MO 65631, USA
Monark Springs, MO 64850, USA
Garber, MO 65616, USA