At the turn of the 20th century, Ruddock in Louisiana was a bustling community, located on an isthmus between Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain, the town was connected by the railroads with a train coming through daily. At the height … Read More
Just over 90 miles north of the Arctic Circle and 40 hours by train from Moscow, sits the once-bustling coal-mining city of Vorkuta, Russia. Built by gulag inmates during Stalin’s big purge in the 1930s, this desolate region on the … Read More
Kadykchan is located at the eastern extremity of Russia in the Kolyma region of Siberia, an area renowned for the harshness of the climate. This part of Siberia is known for something else too, the devastating brutality of its Gulags. … Read More
St. Elmo, is currently the best-preserved ghost town in Colorado. This former gold mining camp in Chaffee County lies in the heart of the Sawatch Range. The entire district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, … Read More
Villa Epecuén was once a bustling tourist town along the shore of Lago Epecuen. The salt lake, some 600 kilometers away from Buenos Aires was a popular holiday spot for many decades in the 20th century. People would flock from … Read More
On June 10, 1889, New Zealand’s deadliest volcanic eruption devastated the surrounding landscape and killed over 120 people. The villagers around Mount Tarawera on the on North Island did not stand a chance as boiling mud and hot springs tore … Read More
Founded in 1904, Rhyolite was once a booming late Gold Rush-era mining town on the edge of Death Valley. People flocked there in the promise of finding gold. Within a few short years, Rhyolite was a bustling mini-metropolis, with two … Read More
Abandoned settlements can be found all over northern Chile. They are the remains of the once very lucrative nitrate industry. In the first half of the 20th century, towns were rapidly built to house the many workers required to mine … Read More
Before the start of the Cold War, Vozrozhdeniya Island in the Aral Sea (then a part of the Soviet Union), was an unassuming place. Apart from a few locals working a small fish processing plant, nothing much happened there. That … Read More
To stand in the Kaya Valley region of Turkey, amongst the ruins of Kayaköy is an eerie experience. The stone buildings of this once-bustling town stand empty, after being abandoned abruptly in 1922. The citizens fell victim to the purges … Read More
Located on the south-eastern end of Pamban Island (or Rameshwaram Island) in Tamil Nadu, Dhanushkodi is an essential dark tourist destination for anyone exploring India. This once small yet prosperous town had all the amenities of a bustling community; a … Read More
Nestled in the harsh, icy midst of Svalbard, above Norway’s arctic circle, is a remote abandoned ghost town like no other. To walk among the empty streets of Pyramiden is to step back in time. This former mining town permeates … Read More
Popular with tourists, photographers, and the occasional filmmaker, Nelson Ghost Town in Nevada is a very interesting site to visit. It also has a rather nefarious past. The Spaniards originally called the place Eldorado. They first discovered gold there in … Read More
The abandoned beach resort Varosha is a very strange place. Where else can tourists sip cocktails beside the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean, while gazing towards a fenced-off, forbidden ghost town, where entry is illegal and could result in being … Read More
Visiting the almost destroyed former town of Armero is a dark tourism experience like no other. Firstly, you have to make your way out to Colombia in order to reach it. The trip isn’t for the faint-hearted. Once you get … Read More