Garnet is a well-preserved ghost town in the Garnet Mountain Range about 40 miles east of Missoula, Montana. Founded in the 1890s during a gold mining boom, the town reached a population of about 1,000 before declining rapidly after a 1912 fire destroyed much of the business district. The town was briefly revived during the Depression but was permanently abandoned by the 1940s. Approximately 30 structures remain, including the Hotel, the Davey Store, and several miners' cabins.
The Bureau of Land Management, which manages the site, has received numerous reports of paranormal activity from visitors and caretakers. The most commonly reported phenomenon is the sound of piano music and voices coming from the Hotel building, which has been empty for decades and contains no piano. Caretakers staying at the site during winter have described hearing footsteps on wooden boardwalks, seeing lights in windows of buildings with no electricity, and feeling the sensation of being watched from the empty cabins. Some visitors have reported seeing shadowy figures moving between the buildings, particularly at dusk.
The town's extreme isolation — it is accessible only by a rough dirt road that is impassable in winter — and the remarkable preservation of its buildings create a powerful time-capsule effect.