2009 Ghost Town
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We have visited ghost towns on previous trips to New Mexico, particularly back in 2000, and we have passed by this one on previous trips without stopping.  But this year we had the time, and the town is literally just off the interstate, so I made everybody stop.

Steins, New Mexico (pronounced "steens") is only a few hundred feet north of exit 3 on I-10 about three miles east of the New Mexico-Arizona border.  It is actually now on private property, and I had read that access to it might be restricted depending on the time of day and time of year.  We found it to be behind a fence, and, while there was a mobile home nearby that looked lived in, no one was around but a barking dog during our 15 minutes there on a Sunday morning in April.  There were some big rigs parked as though they had spent the night, but we saw no people.  We did stop long enough to take a few pictures and to stretch our legs.

 

 

  
Steins Ghost Town sign with the Steins Mercantile store in the background.  These are both behind a wire fence that surrounds the town.   A wider shot from the same direction.  There is a big parking area adjacent to the town site that appears to be more or less just a rest area for passing trucks to spend the night.
     
 
Another view of the town site from directly north looking south.   The most photographed thing in Steins is this structure, which is apparently what remains of a store.  It looks as though a modern addition has been added to the rear.  I hadn't intended to catch them in this photo, but those are two passing trucks on I-10, one (a double-trailer rig) going to the right (west) on the left side and the other going to the left (east) on the right side of the store.  They give you an idea of just how close the town is to the highway.
     
This photo gives a nice sense of everything.  In the foreground is what you mostly see at Steins, the fence and the remains of building foundations.  Then there is the store, and behind that a truck passing by on the highway.
 
Here can be seen more foundations and building remains at left, some big rigs parked for the night, and our van with a few of us milling about waiting for me to get finished taking pictures already.