Entry No. 25 — the Coeur d'Alene file — filed under: outdoor
Burke Ghost Town
Crammed into a canyon barely 300 feet wide, Burke was once a silver town so tight that a hotel was famously built straddling the railroad and creek, with trains running through the lobby. Today it is a genuine ghost town: hulking boarded-up Hecla mining structures, twisted rail, and dwellings carved into the hillside still cling to the gorge seven miles up the road from Wallace. The buildings are private and posted, so it is a look-but-don't-enter drive-and-stroll.
The story
You didn't hear it from us, but when a granite canyon is barely 300 feet wide and sitting on millions of dollars in silver ore, standard civic planning goes completely out the window. When prospectors struck silver and lead here in 1884, thousands squeezed into the gulch, leaving zero flat ground for a normal main street. The solution was absurd: the Northern Pacific railroad tracks doubled as the primary road. Store owners had to crank up their canvas awnings whenever steam engines chugged past, and horse buggies—later cars—had to pull over into doorways to let trains clear the passage.
The crown jewel of this spatial delirium was the Tiger Hotel, built in 1888 across Canyon Creek. Lacking a square foot of open dirt, builders erected the 150-room wooden structure straddling both the stream and the rail line, forcing train engines to rumble directly through a tunnel in the hotel's lobby. Off the tracks, miners carved homes straight into the vertical rock walls, terracing dwellings into steep hillsides because the valley floor was fully swallowed by twin rail lines, heavy ore mills, and thick timbering.
Burke was also a powder keg during the violent Coeur d'Alene labor strikes of 1892 and 1899, serving as the launching pad where union miners hijacked a train and hauled thousands of pounds of dynamite down the canyon to obliterate company mills. While the Tiger Hotel was torn down in 1954 and the 8,100-foot-deep Star Mine finally went dark in 1991, the canyon remains packed with towering Hecla mining structures, twisted rail, and hollow wooden shacks clinging precariously to the gorge.
What it's like
Driving State Highway 4 seven miles northeast out of Wallace feels less like scenic sight-seeing and more like descending into a narrow industrial vault. The ruins appear suddenly around tight bends—looming brick headworks, iron frames, and weather-bleached cabins crushed between the mountain and the pavement. There are no visitors' centers or ticket booths here, and every surviving wall is heavily posted with 'No Trespassing' signs courtesy of the Hecla Mining Company and private locals. Treat this as a slow roadside walk-and-gawk: stick to the asphalt, shoot your photos from the public right-of-way, and don't try wandering past the fences or exploring after dark unless you want a tense confrontation with the few residents who still live at the top of the canyon.
The move: Drive the seven miles up Burke Canyon to wander the roadside ruins and photograph the mine works wedged into the gorge.
📍 Before you go Remaining structures are private property with No Trespassing signs and are unstable; stay outside, do not enter buildings or mine openings, and don't go after dark.
- 📍 Burke, Idaho
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: Burke Canyon Rd (ID-4), Burke, ID 83808
Hours: Added 2026-06-24 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Star Mine — Located right along your drive up Highway 4, these brick ruins mark what was once North America's deepest mine, plunging 8,100 feet into the earth.
- Oasis Bordello Museum — Pair Burke's industrial decay with a preserved town-life time capsule seven miles back in Wallace, left intact when workers fled a 1988 raid.
- Sprag Pole Inn & Museum / Molly B'Damn's Grave — Head over the mountain pass to Murray to contrast Burke's canyon silver mines with the district's original 1883 gold rush camp.
- Center of the Universe Manhole Cover — Finish your tour of Burke's claustrophobic canyon engineering back in downtown Wallace by standing on the mayor's tongue-in-cheek town center.
Good to know
Can you go inside the old mine structures or abandoned houses?
No. The surviving buildings and mine portals are unstable private property heavily posted with No Trespassing signs by mining companies and local land owners. You must view and photograph everything strictly from the public roadside.
Can you still see the hotel where the train ran through the lobby?
No, the 150-room Tiger Hotel was demolished in 1954 after falling out of use. You can still see the extraordinarily tight canyon neck and creek bed where it once stood, marked by historic roadside signboards.
How do you reach Burke Ghost Town?
Drive seven miles northeast from Wallace, Idaho, along State Highway 4 (Burke-Canyon Creek Road). The paved road winds directly past the mine ruins and dead-ends near Upper Burke.
Are there set open hours or entry fees?
Burke is an un-gated public canyon drive with no entrance fees or formal operating hours. Visit during daylight, as the canyon lacks lighting, ruins are hazardous, and local property owners strictly enforce trespassing boundaries at night.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · westernmininghistory.com · cdapress.com · boisedev.com · spokanehistorical.org · Atlas Obscura
last checked: 2026-06-24