Independence

Independence is a gold-camp ghost town in a meadow at the western foot of Independence Pass. Prospectors reportedly struck gold here on July 4, 1879, and the camp grew to more than a thousand people within a year before dwindling as better ore and jobs drew people to Aspen. Aspen Historical Society volunteers and the Forest Service have stabilized and roofed the surviving log buildings, which line the old main street beside a stamp mill site.