Urban exploring - Exploring abandoned places

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I was exploring the outside of a pumping station and stepped on to what I thought was dry mud, but was really twenty feet of water covered by a layer of scum that looked like solid ground. I went down, kicked up and broke surface once as my boots filled with water. The side was sheer concrete and I doubt I could have reached the lip. Luckily I was with a friend and he grabbed me as I was going down again. If I had been alone, I'm absolutely positive I would have died.

That experience cured me of any desire for reckless urban exploration.
 
Gensou Hadou said:
There's also the off-chance you'll get charged for trespassing. Urban exploring sounds like it'd be cool to do, but it's a bit too risky for me outside of minecraft.
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I'd be more worried about asbestos and other toxic material, tetanus, wild animals, or structural instability than trespassing charges.
 
MrTroll said:
I'd be more worried about asbestos and other toxic material, tetanus, wild animals, or structural instability than trespassing charges.
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Sounds right. I do my urban exploring in Nier Automata.
 
In my area like a lot of coastal areas with high profile cold war era targets we have NIKE sites.

They consist of a set of radar towers and the launch pads usually located some distance apart.

There were multiple sites in this area but only one still has the towers standing is this one in the video. Interestingly it does not have it's launch area intact anymore as it was built over years ago.

How ever there are several sites left that still have the launch area but no towers.

These things were tucked away in the woods and residential areas as a last ditch defense against Soviet bombers.

 
ShortBusDriver said:
In my area like a lot of coastal areas with high profile cold war era targets we have NIKE sites.

They consist of a set of radar towers and the launch pads usually located some distance apart.

There were multiple sites in this area but only one still has the towers standing is this one in the video. Interestingly it does not have it's launch area intact anymore as it was built over years ago.

How ever there are several sites left that still have the launch area but no towers.

These things were tucked away in the woods and residential areas as a last ditch defense against Soviet bombers.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=-S6mOcjyDpk
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The abandoned military sites always interested me. There really aren't many chances to check things like it out in the UK because most of them are still active but there are a couple:
https://www.exutopia.com/usaf-upper-heyford-chasing-cold-war-ghosts-in-rural-oxfordshire/ - I believe most of Upper Heyford has been repurposed, some of it is commercial property now, some buildings I heard had been knocked down for a housing estate and the runway is storage for a car hire firm. Once the UK lockdown ends I might run down there and take some pictures for the thread.

The Ex-Utopia blog has been one I really enjoy visiting, Darmon writes well and takes great pictures.
 
DeadFish said:
Im more interested in finding abandoned roads and trails.

Im looking for places to hide out in case the world gets even more interesting
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There's a highway near me that the government didn't finish because it ran out of money. The finished part ends on a main drag in the city, with jersey barriers forcing everyone into a turnoff. It's not paved but it has all this nicely compacted gravel with weeds and alders growing up through it now. You can hop the barriers(or walk around them really) and cross this unused overpass that's over the main road and walk a mile or two until it takes you down to a farm area.
 
I knew a guy who tried to steal satchel charges by burying them instead of setting them off during training.

Abandoned military sites are a fair sight more dangerous than abandoned factories, which were at least probably reasonably safe the day they shut down.
 
Always be armed, and make sure to check every nook, and cranny, especially if you actually plan on staying there for a while.

Junkies, and squatters are a lot more common than you'd think, and they're usually extremely aggressive. They usually hide at first, but god help you if you stick around for a long time. They can, and will suddenly swarm out, and rush at you.

Just bail whenever you see someone, or come across someone's bedding, or personal belongs that look too new, too expensive, too recently used, or in too good of a condition. Same applies if you actually find drugs, or drug paraphernalia. Don't mess with any of it. Just leave, and call authorities.

Trust me, you don't wanna deal with some tweaker trying to claw your face off because you accidentally stumbled across their hideout, and drug stash.
 
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Dutch Courage said:
Too many urban explorers are damaging and destroying the places they explore. It is a very annoying fad. Back in the day, it was such an underground activity, it didn't even have a name. Now, it is like tourists ruining Niagara Falls. And you know what pricks tourists can be.
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Agreed. It used to be the case that those who wanted to explore took care not to disturb or damage anything as much as possible. Once the recession hit, unfortunately, a lot of people became scrappers and started removing anything of value from these places even if it made the structures unsafe to the point they can never be uwed again and need to be demolished if and when funds exist.

That's why some explorers try to keep the location of places they explore a secret. However, people with a keen eye for landmarks might still be able to identify where they are. Others are too sloppy with their efforts. Last year, I came across an urbex video that refused to divulge the building's location. It turned out to be an abandoned school with the logo on the gym floor giving away its name and city. The scary part, though, was when the explorers moved to a different part of the building and discover scrappers about to enter that wing to do their thing. The explorers decided to avoid that part of the building and focus on the part where they entered so to avoid a confrontation that probably wouldn't have ended well.

As others have said, exploring alone or even as a pair may be risky because of squatters, homeless, people with mental health issues, and other shady people that hide out in those locations. That's even before considering that some of the buildings have been scrapped bad enough that they've become death traps with unstable walls, floors, and ceilings.

Never Scored said:
There's a highway near me that the government didn't finish because it ran out of money. The finished part ends on a main drag in the city, with jersey barriers forcing everyone into a turnoff. It's not paved but it has all this nicely compacted gravel with weeds and alders growing up through it now. You can hop the barriers(or walk around them really) and cross this unused overpass that's over the main road and walk a mile or two until it takes you down to a farm area.
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This almost sounds like a stretch of abandoned freeway that was extended beyond where it currently ends but remains unused after a snag in the project caused work to abruptly cease. In looking up that highway today, it looks like the abandoned part may finally be converted into a grade-level boulevard instead of an extension of the freeway assuming COVID and 11th-hour lawsuits/appeals don't stymie the project any further.
 
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I followed a lot of the blogs and stuff about it back around 00s.
But it always seemed like a great way to get killed or injured, so I was fine with just reading the adventures of other people.
 
If it's very rural your chances are okay. I like older places, so there's not much interpersonal danger-- met more photographers than scrappers or squatters.

Tips: Go with someone, during daylight. There's no need to do anything you're not sure about. The coolest places are indeed ruined by traffic or too dangerous, so set your bar low. Do your research on buildings before going inside: what did they make, why'd they close, has it been in the news for any reason? Don't bring showy equipment. A zoom lens is better than getting too close and if you have to bring a drone, nab a mavic mini. Some places I've had luck with in the US:
  • Mills/factories (don't go inside if they're on the water)
  • Old medical complexes
  • Foundations, graveyards, wells on hiking trails
  • State parks (colonial town ruins, military, sometimes radio towers or weather facilities--maybe not quite the same, but still cool)
  • Unfinished developments, highway/real estate
  • Vehicles (old buses/traincars)
  • Ghost towns
You find the best places by physically looking for them. If you really want to look online first, see if a town's historical society mentions anything or visit their library.
 
There's a cool old water-powered nill near my house. I should check it out again.
 
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