America is littered with spooky, deserted places that will send a shiver up your spine. From frozen-in-time ghost towns and churches, to schools and prisons that have been left to decay, we reveal the most incredible abandoned places in each state. We’ll let you know which sites are open to visitors, but otherwise assume you shouldn’t enter for your own safety.

Click or scroll through the gallery to explore the most fascinating abandoned spot in each US state...

The owners were unable to pay for the extensive repairs and the house was abandoned, but not forgotten. Over the years, the exterior of the crumbling mansion has featured in movies (including Tim Burton's Big Fish) and fashion shoots. These days the grounds are also available to hire for weddings and other events.

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The last train departed that same year, leaving Kennecott a ghost town – literally. Visitors and locals alike have reported many sightings of apparitions over the decades, especially since the 1980s when tourists began to flock here. This picture is from 1989 – can you spot any ghosts?

This hulking sanatorium overlooking the Connecticut coast has had several functions over the years. It began life in the 1930s as a tuberculosis hospital, but when its treatments became obsolete, the sanatorium turned into a care center for the elderly. When it finally closed in 1996, it was a hospital for patients with learning difficulties.

Yet despite the ruinous repair of the property itself, the gardens have been restored to their former glory and are open to the public. Visitors can wander amid the leafy grounds and take a peek at Gibraltar Mansion's imposing facade. In January 2024, the city of Wilmington purchased the Gibraltar mansion for $900,000 to preserve it, so watch this space.

In the 1940s, dermatologist and dinosaur enthusiast Dr. Perry Sperber realized a dream: to open a theme park dedicated to the lumbering prehistoric creatures he was so fascinated by. He built his quirky jungle theme park on a plot of land containing the ruins of an old sugar mill and it included giant dinosaur statues sculpted from concrete.

However, the public sadly didn't muster the same enthusiasm as Sperber and low visitor numbers caused the park to close in 1952. Now the weathered relics of the abandoned park are scattered about Dunlawton Sugar Mill Gardens, which is open to the public. 

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The mill changed hands a number of times during the 20th century, and eventually shut down in 1996. Today, though out of bounds to the public and covered in overgrowth, structures evoking the mill's heyday still stand.

Old Idaho State Penitentiary was eventually shut down following major riots over the appalling conditions. Now it's open daily to visitors, who can learn what life must have been like for the inmates on a guided tour.

Nevertheless, the prison survived until 2002, when it was finally closed for financial reasons. Regular guided tours of the prison campus are offered to the public, and the building has also been used as a location for movie and television shoots, including popular TV series Prison Break. 

Exploring Fort Gorges is at your own risk – you have to reach it by boat for a start. Its granite archways may not be entirely stable thanks to damage sustained in the Second World War, when the fort was last active. Greater Portland Landmarks is working on preserving the site, placing it on its 'places in peril' list. 

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Later on in the 19th century, the mills eventually closed, but their abandoned remnants remain preserved as part of the Mill Ruins Park. Visitors can walk among the imposing factory walls and put their discoveries into context at the nearby Mill City Museum.

The castle was finished by Snyder's sons, but they eventually ran into financial difficulties and were forced to move on. It served as a hotel for a time before it was destroyed by fire in 1942. Today visitors can spend time exploring the ruins during a trip to Ha Ha Tonka State Park.

In the early 20th century, Bannack entered into decline and most residents had left by the 1950s. Today, some 60 brick, log, and frame buildings remain and the town is a popular tourist attraction.

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By the 1920s, the town had been all but abandoned and now very little of it is left. Visitors can expect to see the historic cemetery, plus a restored schoolhouse and a general store. 

This abandoned hospital on New Jersey's Ellis Island has an absorbing history. During its heyday in the earlier half of the 20th century, it treated thousands of immigrants who had come to the USA hoping to start anew. It's estimated that about 10% of all arrivals passed through the hospital and were treated for diseases such as tuberculosis and diphtheria. Sadly, many didn't make it. 

However, Bannerman passed away in 1918 and a series of tragic incidents ensued, including an explosion which destroyed part of the castle shortly after Bannerman's death. The property has been abandoned since the 1950s, though today tourists come to see the once glorious castle's crumbling remains.

Located in the semi-abandoned town of Ardoch, the Mondry Grain Elevator was built in 1881 when the town was a thriving center of agriculture. The grain elevator was owned by the Mondry family farm and was at one time located on a rail line. When the railroad closed, the elevator and the village of Andoch were no longer needed.

The reformatory has been spared the wrecking ball and was even the location for famous prison movie The Shawshank Redemption. Unsurprisingly, tales of ghosts and ghouls lurking within these walls abound. As well as regular guided tours, visitors can today explore the facility on a ghost hunt.

During the Second World War, the Huntingtons lent the mansion to the United States Army Air Corps for use as a barracks. They returned after the war but eventually left the property in 1947, with Anna returning just a couple of times after Archer's death in 1955. Today, public tours are available of the grounds and the deserted buildings.

The prison was terribly overcrowded – at times holding 300 more than its maximum capacity – and diseases were rife, leading to the deaths of many inmates. A new and bigger facility was built (though conditions did not improve) and it went on to house some of America's most notorious criminals. James Earl Ray, convicted of assassinating Dr Martin Luther King Jr, is among the most famous inmates to walk through the gates. Despite its checkered history, the facility would not close until 2009 – now it's open for historical and paranormal tours. 

This is all that remains of Majors Stadium in Greenville, once home to high school football, followed by a minor league baseball team named the Majors starting in 1946. The stadium and team were named after Second World War hero Truett Majors. 

In 1949, the team played an exhibition game against the New York Yankees and won 4-3. Playing in center field was Joe DiMaggio, widely considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time and once married to Marilyn Monroe. A sign next to the gate tells the story of the field and commemorates sporting legend visitors.

Moran Municipal Generation Station has been vacant since the 1980s. Over the past decade, the striking structure has been both threatened with demolition and earmarked for ambitious redevelopment plans. Finally, in 2020, work began to turn the power station's metal skeleton into the 'Moran Frame', a park and cultural space.

When Mark 'Professor' Cline turned an old, abandoned mansion in Virginia into a haunted house, he also created one of the prime tourist attractions in the area. A talented artist, Cline filled his Haunted Monster Museum in Natural Bridge with his unusual creations, which included Foamhenge, a recreation of Stonehenge, except in Styrofoam (of course). He built a creative headquarters for the park known as Enchanted Castle Studios.

Sadly, it was all destroyed by a fire in 2012, the second to occur on the site. Today you can still visit the ruins but Mark is busy creating new creepy art pieces, especially around April Fool's Day. Each year, a large, creative sculpture appears in a public space, typically within 50 miles (80km) of his studio.

What's left of the little mining town of Helena is protected within the bounds of Tower Hill State Park. Like many surrounding villages, Helena burgeoned through the 1830s and 1840s after lead was discovered in the area. The town was damaged in its very early days in the Black Hawk War in 1832, but it wasn't fully deserted until 1860.

The ghost town stayed standing until 1971 when most of the buildings were razed to the ground due to safety concerns. Only the ruins of the bulldozed town and its cemetery remain – they make for a particularly bleak sight on the prairie landscape.

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