Ophir

Tucked into Tooele County, Utah, Ophir is a census-designated place with a ghost-town character shaped by its silver industry past. Today fewer than two dozen people call it home — the 2020 census counted just 24 residents, down from 38 a decade earlier — making it one of the smallest and quietest communities in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area.

Visitors come primarily to soak in the atmosphere of a place that time has largely passed by. The dramatically shrunken population tells its own story, and the setting in Tooele County offers the kind of stripped-down, unhurried scene that history-minded travelers seek out.

Access is by car, and the site is best visited in the warmer months when roads are clear. Winter conditions in the region can make travel difficult or hazardous. Come with modest expectations — this is not a curated heritage site but a quietly fading community where the remains of a silver-driven past linger in the landscape.