Foo - Any urban explorers out there?

I have done a lot of urban exploring over the years, but recently found out that it has a name and there are a lot of people doing it formally. I've been in drains, abandoned buildings, steam tunnels, attics, basements and construction sites. Tunnels are probably my favorite. I love sneaking around in service areas of hotels and off limits areas of places in use. Is there anyone else on BF that does this sort of thing? If anyone in Utah wants to explore, PM me. It can be really fun, and you get to see some neat stuff that most people never know exists.

I do it on occasion. We call it urban speulunking though, because there are a LOT of tunnels in KC. It's not limited to drains and tunnels, though.

Lots of fun, it's been a bout a year since I've done anything. I do know of some good dumpsters, though. Dumpster diving is UE's red-headed step brother. I've found biometric hand-scanners (fixed it, sold for $450 on eBay), electronic vault locks, mechanical vault locks, and whole ATM machines at my favorite dumpster (a bank equipment warehouse)

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It's been a while since I actually went into caves, tunnels, and attics, though.

I've done a lot of that , but as part of jobs, not illegaly tresspassing. I'll tell you what, when you are in a 2'x2' tunnel, 300 yards from the exit, with no lights but one around your head, and there are mice and rats, and you are crawling along on a wheelboard pulling mag pipe insulation, its not fun. Nor is it fun to be on construction sites busting your ass on top of a high building knowing damn well if you screw up any number of possible ways you or your coworkers could be injured or killed. I've done a lot of things like that, and for me, no thrill is involved.

Not quite what you're doing, however I've done some geocaching in cities. This kind of forces you into areas you normally wouldn't go.

One of the most fascinating things I've ever read is about exploring the Paris Catacombs.

http://triggur.org/cata/

I've been a UE freak for a long time, I also didn't know there was a name until a few years ago. I'm mostly into abandonments of the factory and asylum variety but I'll check out anything. I'm assuming you know but there is a very large UE forum out there (uer.ca).

Mine's mostly of the outdoor variety. We've got lots of wildish patches of space in this city where you can find blackberries, edible weeds, feral fruit trees, etc., and I enjoy that sort of exploring/gathering. I don't have the equipment or expertise for building/tunnel exploration, although I'd give it a try accompanied by someone who knew what they were doing.

I've done a little bit. I use to have a friend that worked the security night shift at an amusement park. That was some cool stuff. I love this sight.

http://www.abandoned-places.com/

i did it in college. any university has underground service tunnels for steam and water lines, electrical and other things.

once we found them and could easily access one of the hatches we would travel under the campus to other buildings and enter and explore them, girls dorms ;), etc.

:D

I don't know that you even have to go underground or into buildings, as donna says. Just riding a bicycle to explore a city or urban area can open up some interesting possibilities... a bit like geocaching, but without the cache, and getting off the main pathways, I suppose. You are a bit more obvious on a bike in no-trespass areas, though. Weekends are for business and industrial areas; weekdays for parklands, reserves and other natural areas.

Coolest urban area I've ever explored was an abandoned air force base / youth academy. Rode my bike all over the place, tried to get into as many buildings as I could. Dorms, offices, labs, and lots of other cool buildings...

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Interesting pics. What's the 3rd pic down. Looks kinda like a UFO landing pad.

A pedestal for a satellite dish or radar tower or something. I'm not really sure...

Or maybe it IS a UFO landing pad! :eek:

every time I do urban exploring or even rural exploring I run into crazy people or things there. I went into an abandoned mine building and there was a whole family living there.. freaky stuff. I ran up on some pitbulls that someone had abandoned running lose on some old gas company land while biking thank god I was on a downhill. I try to take someone with me most of the time. I don't know why I feel safer, I'm sure a deranged killer would see this as a 2 for one special.

I'm an ex-urban climber. I used to freeclimb some pretty high and gnarly buildings back when I thought I had multiple lives like Super-Mario.


It was quite a thrill. Who needs drugs?

I had to pick up a friend at the Greyhound station this morning and I decided 6:00AM new years day would be a good time to do a little UE. I went to a closed steel plant. It was really freaking cool. This is the last building left, the rest has already been demolished. I wish I had gone out when there was more of it left, but it was still really fun. Here are a few pictures, post some of your own!

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:lol: @ the weber grill! I think someone was living in that building for a while. There's a lot of abandoned places I've been where there was plenty of evidence people were actively living there or had in the past.

Coolest urban area I've ever explored was an abandoned air force base / youth academy. Rode my bike all over the place, tried to get into as many buildings as I could. Dorms, offices, labs, and lots of other cool buildings...


An abandoned military base is probably the thing I would most like to see. Thanks for the pics!

:lol: @ the weber grill! I think someone was living in that building for a while. There's a lot of abandoned places I've been where there was plenty of evidence people were actively living there or had in the past.

Yeah, I've run into squaters before, but I highly doubt this was the case here. It's a pretty good distance from anything other than more factories and plants and pretty difficult to get to. Still, I got a kick out of the grill too, it seemed really out of place.

Could also be remnants of a party. The place where my bus picks me up from (I'm a bi-modal commuter) has been shut down for ages. Once, I rode around the back of this warehouse and found evidence of a bonfire in one of the truck loading docks. This is in the middle of populated suburbia.

I also found evidence of a field party when I went off-roading once. So, it's my guess that someone was either camping there, or there was a party.

Could also be remnants of a party. The place where my bus picks me up from (I'm a bi-modal commuter) has been shut down for ages. Once, I rode around the back of this warehouse and found evidence of a bonfire in one of the truck loading docks. This is in the middle of populated suburbia.

I also found evidence of a field party when I went off-roading once. So, it's my guess that someone was either camping there, or there was a party.


I'm thinking it was left by security, I believe this area is normally patrolled. I've heard reports of people seeing security guys warming themselves by a fire.

I think imagination plays a big role, too, in how you enjoy this sort of exploring.

A long time ago, in another life (pre cycling, but still outdoors), I lived in a remote area that had a lot of mining activity. It was 80 years of history in many places; that doesn't seem long... but when I came across old workings with substantial remains of mining equipment and building foundation, it was always exciting. It wasn't hard to imagine settlements and people working the sites.

I'll follow sideroads to country rubbish dumps -- there's often "stuff" to explore if you can stand the smell, and sometimes ride away with something good. I say country dumps because they usually are unguarded and unfenced (at least in Australia).

Yacht clubs with slipways also fascinate me because of the changing guard of boats. And river foreshores.

[QUOTE=kemmer]An abandoned military base is probably the thing I would most like to see. Thanks for the pics![/QUOTE


When I was a teen, I picked tobacco in Conn. for Culbro. They put us up in an abandoned Nike missle base outside of Simsbury. I guess they purchased it after the cold war. But occasionally we would get tours of the "underground" facilities and the missle silos that were completely underground. This was in the late 60's early 70's and I still remember where the place was at. It was on main road going north out of Simsbury, Conn. On the west side of the road across from the tower on top of the mountain. I would like to hear from anyone with a notion to return to there.

i've been in service tunnels below my high school. that was pretty cool. lots of other drainage tunnels as well. abandoned houses and\or buildings are always great. i'm more cautious than i used to be as a teenager (damn getting older!), but i'll always be willing to check something out.