At the height of its prosperity, Ruddock was a picturesque almost idyllic town built on stilts above the wetlands of the area.

Stilt-supported wooden sidewalks snaked through the buildings, with walkways leading up to the front doors of the houses. It was a good place to live.

And then came the 1915 Louisiana hurricane.

Within a few, short, hours the entire town was ripped apart. 58 residents were killed and Ruddock was never rebuilt.

Over a hundred years later the ghost town is still marked on maps. It is ever signed as an exit on Interstate 55. For dark tourists passing through, it is definitely worth the detour.

History of Ruddock, Louisiana

By 1855, a rail line serviced the western shore of Lake Pontchartrain, curving through the swamp and deep cypress forests between Laplace and Ponchatoula.

Within a few years, the route would stop at some of the small settlements established to support the sawmill businesses being built there.

One such enterprise was that of William Burton and C. H. Ruddock. In 1892, they had founded the Ruddock Cypress Company and the small town of Ruddock quickly grew around it.

With a population of up to a thousand (and similar sized settlements Napton and Frenier, further south), the area was growing rapidly.

Many of the early settlers were German immigrants, and the progressive community definitely had a European vibe.

There was a small town hall, a blacksmith, schoolhouse, and the Holy Cross Catholic Church.

Liberal men’s entertainment came courtesy of the Owl Saloon, which was discretely located outside of the town so as not to offend the church-going locals.

The all-important railroad had its own depot with a two-story house attached, and the office and commissary for the Ruddock Cypress Lumber Company was also a substantial building.

Although there was no large grocery store, housewives could take the daily train to do their shopping in LaPlace or even New Orleans.

The train was also vital in the movement of supplies and lumber in and out of Ruddock.

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The September 1915 New Orleans Hurricane

On September, 30th, 1915, chaos came to the small town of Ruddock in the form of a deadly, Category 4 hurricane. Obliterating every building in its path, the town along with nearby Frenier, was completely destroyed.

Residents that remained in their predominantly wooden homes, didn’t stand a chance.

Those that survived had either paid heed to the warning of bad weather and had already fled, or managed to find more robust shelter. A heavy steel caboose at the railroad depot and the schoolhouse being two places of note.

The railroad in the region was also very badly damaged. With the death toll relatively high and so much of the town destroyed, survivors did not want to return.

From that date forward, what was left of Ruddock became an abandoned ghost town.

Where is Ruddock, Louisiana

Visiting Ruddock, Louisiana Today

Today, the road to Ruddock of Interstate 55 leads to a boat launch on the edge of the lake.

The meager remains of Ruddock after the 1915 hurricane have mostly been swallowed by vegetation.

However, for the eagle-eyed and those in the know remnants can be found. Decaying wood from the buildings and wooden walkways protrude from the swamp in places.

Local historian and retired police officer Wayne Norwood have spent decades exploring and documenting his finds in the area where Ruddock once stood.

He has collected thousands of artifacts that once belonged to the people that lived in the community.
Trudging through the swamplands and diving the lake he has unearthed, bottles, everyday houseware tools, and pieces of old equipment belonging to the mills and railroad.

To house his extensive collection Norwood opened the Louisiana Treasures Museum in Ponchatoula (10290 LA-22). For those interested in Ruddock ghost town the home-brew affair is a must-see.

Norwood has also written and published a book on the events of the 1915 hurricane. Called “The Day Time Stood Still: The Hurricane of 1915,” the narrative explores the life of Ruddock before the disaster and what happened in the aftermath.

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The Abandoned Cemetery

Location: Ruddock, St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, USA

Another place you can visit to explore the history of Ruddock is the abandoned cemetery.

Located close to the rebuilt railroad tracks outside of the ghost town, up to 100 people are said to have been buried here, including some of the victims of the hurricane.

Abandonment, mother nature, and vandals have taken their toll on Ruddock Cemetery, however, the sight of the ruined headstones and upturned terrain is one of the more visceral indications that the area was once a large community of many hundreds of people.

It can be found approximately 3 and 2/3 miles north of Frenier, (west of the rail line).

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Built by gulag inmates during Stalin’s big purge in the 1930s, this desolate region on the very edge of Europe was given purpose by the rich deposits of coal discovered nearby.

However, what was once the lifeblood of Vorkuta has now disappeared. After the collapse of the U.S.S.R., the mines were privatized, and within a few years, almost all were shut down.

Surrounded by abandoned mines and filled with derelict apartment blocks, the city – which is the coldest place on the continent (clocking in a record -52 degrees C) – is in steep decline.

The population plummeted from 217,000 in the late 1980s to less than 50,000 today. Vorkuta is now Russia’s fastest dying city.

History of Vorkuta

Vorkuta was discovered during an expedition by Russian geologist Georgy Chernov in the early 20th century.

Once Stalin was aware of the vast wealth waiting to be mined there, the region became vital in his efforts to industrialize Russia.

In tandem with the tyrant’s plans to “re-educate” vast swathes of the population (in the “Great Terror” repressions of 1937 and 1938), Gulags were hastily constructed in the district.

Vorkutlag was the largest camp in European Russia. Political prisoners sent there were forced to work the mines and build the necessary infrastructure. From this, Vorkuta was born above the permafrost.

For 25 years, prisoners and exiles battled the elements to transform the remote arctic landscape into one of the largest coal sources of the Soviet Union.

At its height, the complex had 20 mines, roads, and railroads, power stations, and a small community of mining towns. The city of Vorkuta was the hub between them all.

By the 1960s people from all over Russia moved to Vorkuta for the promise of employment and higher salaries offered by the mining industry and surrounding economy.

So much so, in the 1980s Vorkuta could boast of being one of the richest northern cities in the USSR.

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Then the iron curtain fell. The collapse of the Soviet economy set a chain reaction of chaos through communities like Vorkuta.

Industry dried up as the now Russian Federation scrambled to function in a capitalist market economy. Unemployment and inflation grew, crime was rampant, living standards plummeted.

The exodus from Vorkuta began.

Within a short space of time, whole suburbs turned into ghost towns.

Jobless and with no prospects of work for the foreseeable future, many people packed what measly belongings they could and headed for the southern cities of Russia.

To this day, whole apartments still contain the rotting furniture of the last inhabitants to live there, decades ago.

As the community shrank, schools, hospitals, nursery schools, and many other governmental institutions had to close through lack of numbers and investment.

Today, Vorkuta’s population continues to decline every year. Before long a city that once had close to a quarter-million residents will be down to its last few thousand.

Where is Vorkuta?

Visiting Vorkuta today

Vorkuta today is a depressing, desolate place to be. Decaying Soviet block housing is blanketed in heavy snow for most of the year. In many instances, one family may live in a building meant to house 50.

And that’s where the people still live. Across large parts of the city (particularly along the Vorkuta River), apartments have been abandoned long ago. Derelict and forlorn, they stand windowless looking out onto the frozen tundra.

The few mines that still run and connected by old railroad tracks that are desperately in need of repair.

Positioned at the horizon on the edge of town, their distant smokestacks belch black threads into the pale arctic sky.

The city is full of old folk, too tired to leave and with no other options anyway. They huddle in decrepit courtyards, or outside the stores that remain open.

The few children around, jostle in ruined playgrounds under the shadows of old Soviet statues.

The desolation is almost poetic, only if you are lucky enough to not live there.

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Walking around Vorkuta

A dark tourist making a trip to Vorkuta will find vast areas of the city empty and easy to explore.

Many of the aforementioned abandoned homes can be roamed freely; their shelves, wallpapers, curtains, and lamps relics of the 1980s and before.

Vorkuta cannot be classed as a ghost town mind you. The locals who still number in the tens of thousands, live and work amid the ruins.

To them collapsed buildings on the end of the street, or the empty stairwell on the way to their front door is ordinary life.

The lack of infrastructure means that many turn to fishing and hunting to sustain themselves.

Self-made cars are another strange, yet common sight on the streets of Vorkuta. Resourceful locals have built themselves these large tank-like vehicles, known as Karakaty, that enable them to move through the thick, snow-clogged tundra.

The indigenous Nenets also remain. The dwindling community makes a living through reindeer herding. Every autumn, reindeer in their thousands are brought to Vorkuta to be traded.

Outside the city limits, most of the old mining settlements are completely abandoned.

Some, such as Yurshor and Rudnik are worthy of a visit. Once part of the gulag camp system, the dark history attached to these locations makes for a poignant experience.

Whipped by the wind of the cold arctic, these empty ghost towns are both eerie and beautiful in their decay. Nature has taken over, the white-blue vastness surrounding you is nothing but humbling.

Featured Image: f-Lars / CC BY 3.0)

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This part of Siberia is known for something else too, the devastating brutality of its Gulags.

For decades, the name Kadykchan was uttered in hushed tones by anyone unlucky enough to live under Stalinist rule. Nicknamed the “land of the white death,” the town was populated by hundreds of thousands of prisoners relocated for “reeducation” in the local work camps.

Today, Kadykchan is an abandoned ghost town. Situated along the route of the “Road of Bones”, (a highway built by prisoners to connect the many mines of the Kolyma region); it is a place only the most discerning dark tourist is likely to visit.

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The History of Kadykchan

Kadykchan was originally founded during World War II after rich deposits of gold, silver, copper, uranium, cobalt, diamonds, coal where discovered in the region.

The gulag prisoners used to build the town and work the nearby mines endured appalling living conditions. The mortality rate was tragically high.

However, the mines were prosperous. After the death of Stalin in 1953 and subsequent closure of the gulags, many of the former prisoners stayed on in Kadykchan to continue working the pits.

Although now free men, the conditions were still harsh. The Far Eastern Federal District in which the city is situated is one of the most remote areas of the former Soviet Union.

The long, cold winters and almost constant permafrost meant that the growing season was reduced to a mere three months. It was not an easy place to live.

All that said, by the 1980s, Kadykchan had a population close to 10,000 people. Gradual modernization had taken place (in line with Soviet levels of progress) and there was a collective infrastructure comparable to other industrial cities in Siberia.

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The collapse of Communism

The eventual collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting disruption to the value and level of coal production spelled doom for Kadykchan and its residents.

It wasn’t long before people were fleeing the town in droves, many for larger cities miles from Kolyma.

The town faced further problems in 1996 after a pit explosion claimed six lives. This was the proverbial nail in the coffin for the mine that was already destined for closure.

Throughout the 1990s the population of Kadykchan dropped from over 10,000 people, to under 300. By the early 2000s, there were very few people left.

The turn of the century also saw the Russian government offer the remaining inhabitants meager subsidies in an effort to convince them to relocate.

As of the 2010 Census, it had no recorded population. A deathly silence had settled upon Kadykchan. It is now the largest ghost town in Siberia.

Where is Kadykchan?

The town is just off the Kolyma Highway, approximately 1,300km from Yakutsk and 700km from Magadan. The closest city is Susuman, (100km in the direction of Magadan).

Visiting Kadykchan Today

Since many of the residents left unceremoniously, packing just essential belongings and heading by train to other parts of Russia, Kadykchan is now eerily filled with the decaying relics that were left behind.

Aging posters peel from walls, furniture lays haphazardly among ruined apartments, and rusted cars dot empty streets.,

Battered by glacial winds for much of the year, and hidden within the frequent snowy fog, to say a visit to Kadykchan is a melancholic experience is an understatement. It really does feel like the edge of the known world.

A walk through the town offers such apocalyptic sights as dilapidated, Soviet apartment blocks, decaying children’s play areas, and a cultural center whose façade still displays the word Sevodnya, (an announcement for the entertainment of the day).

To remind one further of the communist links, a bust of Lenin is still visible in the central town square.

Evidence that this was once a bustling town is everywhere. Enter one of the town’s larger schools and old textbooks litter the floor, equipment lays smashed in the science labs and gym gear can still be found in a ruined sports hall.

The old city cinema can also be explored. It is not hard to imagine a crowd of moviegoers enjoying the latest cinematic release in what are now rows of torn and broken seats.

Like many ghost towns of the communist era, a walk through Kadykchan is to travel through time.

Good to know

Vistors to Kadykchan enter at their own risk. There are potential health and safety issues and the Russian government has not opened the site to tourists, i.e there is no infrastructure to support you being there.

Roads throughout Kadykchan are not passable to traffic due to debris and decay. You are advised to park close by and to cover the town on foot.

Featured Image: Laika ac from USA / CC BY-SA

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The entire district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and it has been popular with tourists traveling in this part of the world for decades.

As with all good ghost towns, a trip here is to go back in time. Transporting visitors to the late 19th century, many of the buildings are just as they were when the town was founded in 1880.

You can almost smell the horse dung…

History of Saint Elmo

Nearly 2,000 people settled in the town after prospectors discovered nearby gold and silver deposits.

Originally called Forest City, the name changed to St. Elmo in order for the town not to be confused with other settlements of the same name.

One of the founding fathers, Griffith Evans chose St. Elmos because he was reading a book with that title at the time.

The town reached its peak population level in the 1890s. Gold and silver mining was proving extremely lucrative, (there were a total of 150 patented mine claims within the area) and St. Elmo had all the local infrastructure required of a bustling mining settlement.

These included a telegraph office, general stores, hotels, various saloons, a town hall, and a dancing hall. It even had its own local newspaper called the Mountaineer.

Transport connections were improved after The Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad line was extended to run through St. Elmo.

The line also continued on towards the famous Alpine Tunnel. The construction of which led to a population increase in St. Elmo, and injected much frivolity into the Saturday night scene with saloons and whore houses opened up to accommodate the influx of male workers.

The most successful mine in the area was Mary Murphey. This recovered a staggering $60,000,000 worth of gold while it was in operation, and ran right up until the railroad was abandoned in 1922.

The closure of the railway in the district was a result of the declining prosperity of the mines around St. Elmo. The lack of work caused a population exodus. It has been said that those left in the town took the last train out and never returned.

Shortly afterward, the community was so small St. Elmo was considered a ghost town.

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The Stark Family of St. Elmo

One family that stuck around despite the declining fortunes of St. Elmo was the Starks. A wealthy family during the heyday of the town, after everyone left, they could not bear to do the same.

Led by patriarch Anton “Tony” Stark, and his son Roy, the family tried in vain to get developers to reinvest in St. Elmos and re-open the mines.

After it became clear this would not happen, the family turned to tourism to make money and to encourage visitors to the now-empty town.

Tony’s wife Anna, aided by daughter Annabel, leased empty cabins to tourists and continued to run the general store.

Together, the Starks ran the fledgling tourist business and by now had bought up much of the property at tax sales prices.

It was a lonely existence. By 1930, the population of the town sat at a mere 7 people. This number was further depleted In 1934 after Roy Stark passed away. His mother dying a year later.

In the intervening years, the few remaining residents had left too, leaving Tony and his daughter Annabelle to live in the dead town completely alone.

Without plumbing or electricity, the couple lived an “eccentric” life, rarely bathing or changing clothes. The hotel that they owned was left to rot, piling up with trash and unfit for tourists.

Annabel was said to roam the empty streets with a loaded rifle hung over her shoulder.

They did continue to run the general store, however, according to reports, it smelt horrible and was full of outdated food and withering items.

The couple quietly goes off the “record” sometime in the late 1940s, assumingly dying and being buried in the ghost town they had spent most of their lives.

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Where is St. Elmo?

Take Highway 24 south from Buena Vista. Then take County Road 162 after passing Nathrop. Follow this for 19 miles until you reach St Elmo.

Look out for Mt Princeton Hot Springs on the route. There is also the very pretty Agnes Vaille Falls. If you have time take the short waterfall hike to see this up close.

St. Elmo Ghost Town Today

Today, St. Elmo is popular with tourists from all over America. The former mining roads are used as off-road vehicle trails; quality hiking and fishing is also a big draw to the area.

The Stark family general store has been revamped and is open during the summer to cater to the influx of tourists.

Many of the buildings have been restored to their former glory (with the Buena Vista Heritage fund making efforts to rebuild those that require attention).

The town hall and a few other buildings were destroyed by fire in 2002, however, these too should be rebuilt in the coming years.

Cabin rental is available in St Elmo providing no-frills, authentic accommodation. There is also the Ghost Town Guest House, a bed and breakfast open year-round for those looking for a bit more comfort.

One trip to make outside the town is some of the abandoned mines. The ruins of the largest mine, Mary Murphey are accessible, however, anyone doing so enters at their own risk.

A 4×4 vehicle is required to get you to the mine entrance. A good day trip would also take in Tincup Pass and onwards to explore Pitkin. (Bear in mind that there is no camping on Co Rd 162).

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People would flock from all over Argentina to enjoy the healing properties of the highly salted water.

The resort was especially popular among the rich and famous, a fact that only added to its glamour, with high-quality businesses set up to service the elite clientele.

From the 1920s up until the 1970s Villa Epecuén thrived as a result, with hotels, restaurants, and the locals enjoying an extended period of prosperity. At its peak, 25,000 tourists were visiting during the summer season each year.

Until Mother Nature intervened.

A long-term weather event during the early 80s saw higher than average rainfall in the surrounding hills of the lake and town.

Lago Epecuen gradually began to swell, until, on November 10, 1985, the waters broke through a dam and flooded the entire resort.

Consumed by saltwater up to a depth of 10 meters, over 280 businesses and countless homes disappeared into the murky depths. Villa Epecuén was abandoned and would never be the same again.

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A Modern-day Atlantis Resurfaces

For nearly 25 years the town laid beneath the waters of Lago Epecuen, until finally, in 2009 the wet weather began to reverse.

Slowly, the town re-emerged from the salty brine. Expectedly, Villa Epecuén was completely destroyed. Deemed a disaster area, the government did not come forward with any plans for reconstruction.

The desolate ghost town with its dilapidated buildings, dead, skeletal trees, and rusted vehicles poking through the low laying waters is an eerie sight. The entire landscape has been bleached white by the once-healing salt. It is a ravaged, post-apocalyptic vision.

For that reason, (dark) tourists from all over the world come to take photographs and admire the totality of the ruined Villa Epecuén.

Where is Villa Epecuén?

Visiting Villa Epecuén Today

There is no sign of commercial activity in Villa Epecuén today. You certainly cannot book any accommodation within the town, however, transport to the site is strangely reliable.

Coaches operate daily from the Retiro coach terminal in Buenos Aires to Carhué. These are run by General Belgrano Pullman (gralbelgrano.com.ar) and Chevallier (nuevachevallier.com).

From Carhué you can reach the ghost town either via a booked tour or taxi/local operator.

One building that still stands in a recognizable state is the monumental slaughterhouse created by revered Argentine architect Francisco Salamone. It holds the fort at the entrance to the town and is subject to many visitor photos.

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There is also a small museum covering the history of the town, in what was once the train station. Here you will find artifacts such as old clothing, records, and other items rescued from the rubble.

Amazingly, there is one resident left in Villa Epecuén. Pablo Novak, 88, returned to his home in 2009 after the waters receded. He has been living here ever since and been the subject of documentaries, tv programs, and media interviews about the town.

Pablo’s Villa (2013) is especially worth a look. The award-winning documentary explores Pablo’s life as well as the history and demise of the resort.

As the only permanent resident states, he has no plans of leaving Villa Epecuén:

“As long as I can walk and tell the story of my life, I will stay here in my Ranchito.”

You may well see him if you make a visit.

Featured Image: Horacio_Fernandez / CC BY 2.0

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The villagers around Mount Tarawera on the on North Island did not stand a chance as boiling mud and hot springs tore through their settlements at the base of the volcano.

The village of Te Wairoa was completely destroyed, buried in volcanic mud.

Now, over 130 years later, the site is open to the public. Tourists can visit the buried village of Te Wairoa, where some areas of the submerged site have been excavated.

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History of Te Wairoa Village

The village of Te Wairoa was established in 1848 by the Revd Seymour Mills Spencer, a Christian missionary spreading the word of God to the local Māori population.

It was designed as a model European village and was a place where visitors would stay en route to visiting the Pink and White Terraces, (a natural wonder of New Zealand and once thought to be the largest silica sinter deposits on earth).

The village was located not far from the shore of Lake Tarawera, and for 45 years grew to become a bustling little pioneer village, with a thriving community that even had a meeting hall.

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The 1889 Mount Tarawera Eruption

Almost all of Te Wairoa village was consumed by the volcanic fallout. Buildings were instantly buried and the hot ash and mud that formed after the lava mixed with water killed anyone that could not escape its path.

Amazingly, one building did escape destruction however; the aforementioned meeting hall.

Known as the Hinemihi in Māori, it was positioned on a higher section of land. The few villagers that made it inside to take shelter also survived.

The life of the hall continues to this day. In 1891 it was purchased for £50 and transported to England by the 4th Earl of Onslow to be used as an ornamental garden building. The former Hinemihi has sat proudly in Surrey’s Clandon Park, ever since.

Up until recently, it was thought that the Pink and White Terraces were also obliterated in the eruption.

The strange geological system was one of New Zealand’s most significant tourist sights during the 19th century. However, the reshaped landscape after Mount Tarawera rained its fury, left no trace of the silica, two-toned wonder.

For years some believed that the terrace remains may exist within the depths of the crater lake. A theory proved true in 2011 after a team of researchers mapped the lake floor and discovered a part of the Pink Terraces at over 60 feet depth.

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Where is the Buried Village of Te Wairoa?

• Address: 1180 Tarawera Road, Rotorua 3076, New Zealand
• Directions: The site is located 14 kilometers southeast of Rotorua on Tarawera Road
• Opening times: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Adult Admission: 27 NZD,
• Under 15s: 8 NZD.

Visiting the Buried Village of Te Wairoa Today

Sixty years after the eruption of Tarawera, the land in and around Te Wairoa was purchased and excavation began in efforts to find the lost village.

The search was successful, and today visitors can explore the 12-acre site which includes some of the ruins of the excavated village, an informative museum, and a life-size reconstruction of a pioneer-era cottage.

Recovered relics are on display in the museum, with artifacts from the disaster site and other historical items. It also contains a detailed history of the eruption and of the Pink and White Terraces.

A complimentary 30 minute-long guided tour can also be requested.

Featured Image: James Shook at en.wikipedia / CC BY 2.5

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I have an insatiable wanderlust for the extraordinary. Born with an adventurous spirit, I have spent over the past decade exploring the far reaches of our planet, seeking out the strange and mysterious.

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People flocked there in the promise of finding gold. Within a few short years, Rhyolite was a bustling mini-metropolis, with two electric plants a hospital, hotels, stores a large school for 250 children, and a red light district with women that had come as far as San Francisco to accommodate the miners.

At its peak, the population was estimated to be between 8,000 and 12,000 people, making it one of the largest desert gold towns of its day.

However, within 6 years, except for a few resilient families, the town would be all but abandoned.

The Boom Times

By the spring of 1905, three-stage lines brought supplies to Rhyolite a fact that exacerbated the speedy rise of the settlement as a bustling town.

Soon after came the railroads. During the peak mining years between 1905 and 1907, the town was served by three lines, shuttling both people, gold, and supplies along with the wider network of the US rail system.

Some impressive buildings were also built, including a 3 story tall bank (at a cost of $90,000), a large train station, and premises to run a stock exchange and a Board of Trade.

All in the town had forty-five saloons, dance halls, an opera house, slaughterhouse, 3 swimming pools, and countless residential buildings.

More than eighty-five mining companies were active in the hills around the city. To say it was a hive of activity would be an understatement.

To keep it all running day and night, Rhyolite had 400 electric streetlights installed that worked 24 hours a day, signifying the optimistic, cutting edge nature of the town.

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To Bust

However, the heyday of Rhyolite was alarmingly short-lived. The US financial markets faltered in 1907, which in turn rocked the flow of investment cash into the mining industry.

Banks and businesses closed, and with most of the investment money coming from mining headquarters based in the east, the supply to Rhyolite quickly dried up.

It was a situation the community could not recover from. A year later the mine closed, and from that point onwards any train leaving the town was full of people that would never return.

By the end of 1909, the population dropped below 1,000. Those that remained, stayed in the hope that a new boom would one day return.

It didn’t. By 1916 the electrical company pulled the plug and all but a handful of people finally moved on.

Those few that remained lived a very lonely existence among the ruins of what was once a town of several thousand. In 1920, a survey recorded just 14 people living in Rhyolite. The last resident died 4 years later in 1924.

Rhyolite was now an official ghost town.

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Where is Rhyolite Ghost Town?

If traveling to Rhyolite from Death Valley, turn east off Hwy 190 around 19 miles north of Furnace Creek. This will take you onto Daylight Pass Road, which you need to take for approx 20 miles. Rhyolite will be signposted once you are passed the Nevada border.

If heading to Rhyolite from Beatty, Nevada, Take Hwy. 374 West about 4 miles. You will soon see the entrance to Rhyolite Road on your right. Continue along until you reach the center of the town.

Rhyolite is free to enter, and fully administered by the BLM. Be warned, it gets very hot in summer so bring water with you. There are no facilities in the ghost town.

Visiting Rhyolite Ghost Town Today

Rhyolite is an essential visit for any dark tourist that likes their ghost towns. The abandoned buildings within the town are extremely evocative. The bleak, time travel experience of walking around Rhyolite is hard to beat.

Full of crumbling remains against a stark backdrop of desert hills provides quality photographic opportunities at every turn.

In fact, the town has what is said to be the most photographed ruin in Nevada, the 3 stories Cook Bank.

Here are a few of the highlights of a trip to Rhyolite Ghost Town.

Railroad Station

The Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad began servicing Rhyolite in 1906. No expense was spared on the building of the train station. At a cost of $130,000, the Spanish-style construction would have certainly impressed new arrivals to the town.

This is one of the more intact ruins in the town today, (although it remains fenced off to tourists wanting to get inside).

In the 1930s, the old depot became a casino and bar, servicing the first arrival of tourists to the ghost town.

It also enjoyed use as a small museum and souvenir shop. These closed in the 1970s, with the station building being empty ever since.

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The Porter Bros. Store

The Porter Brothers Store once sold mining supplies, food, and bedding. Designed with large windows on the facade, (so passers-by could see what items were for sale), this was the largest general store in the town.

The Porter Brothers were known for providing such services in mining towns. They also had stores in the nearby towns of Ballarat, Beatty, and Pioneer.

The Rhyolite store closed along with almost everything else in 1910. However, one of the brothers did stay on. H.D. Porter became the local postmaster and didn’t leave until 1919.

Rhyolite Old School

The remains of the school are in fact from the second school that was built in Rhyolite. Costing $20,000 in 1909, like the station it has Spanish influenced architecture, including a Spanish tile roof and bell tower.

Today the roof has disappeared, but the exterior walls still stand.

Look out for the smaller ruin of the former Overbury building nearby. This used to be a substantial, three-floor structure used for offices.

The Bottle House

Australian Tom Kelly built his Rhyolite bottle house in 1906. His choice of material was due to the fact he started building his home before the railroads began providing a steady flow of supplies.

Unable to afford normal building materials (and find wood which was scarce), Kelly used adobe mud to hold together the 30,000 glass bottles.

His three-room, L-shaped home became his castle and would be the largest of three such houses in town that were built at that time.

The bottle house has been well preserved due to continuing spells of reconstruction over more than 100 years. A significant landmark in Rhyolite, the last effort to keep it intact was carried out in 2005.

Look out for glass bottles from a company named Adolphus Busch. They would later become Budweiser.

Caboose House

Bottle houses were not only the makeshift attempt to create a home during the early days of the Rhyolite gold rush.

With building materials hard to come by, some resourceful individuals actually used disused cabooses as their homes.

These were a common sight across America’s Old West, and Rhyolite has one relatively intact today, just across from the Rhyolite train station.

This old Union Pacific caboose was later used as a gas station once the tourists started to venture to Rhyolite in the 1930s.

Cook Bank

The aforementioned Cook Bank is another well-known landmark in Rhyolite. Being the tallest building within the town during its heyday, it once sported elaborate internal design.

Highlights included imported Italian marble floors, mahogany woodwork, and electric lights throughout. It also had running water and the first multiple network telephone systems in Rhyolite

However, it met a similar fate as the other businesses in town, shutting its doors after just 3 years of use in 1910.

Today, it remains quite a sight. The jagged, dilapidated walls, collapsed upper floors, and sections that reach the full 3 stories without floors or ceilings, indicate how imposing the building would have once been among such smaller dwellings.

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Goldwell Museum

The Goldwell Open Air Museum is another must-see while in Rhyolite. The first open-air installation was unveiled in 1984. Belgian artist Albert Szukalski took it upon himself to sculpt ghostly, life-sized forms close to Rhyolite’s abandoned railroad station.

The artwork was created by draping plaster-soaked burlap over live models. They then had to stand there until the plaster was dry and hard enough to support itself.

The arrangement is said to be influenced by The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci.

There is also the “Ghost Rider”, another work created by Szukalski. This shows a white and eerie figure mounting a bicycle.

Three other Belgian artists have also contributed to the museum. This includes the “Lady Desert: The Venus of Nevada”, by Hugo Heyrman, the “Tribute to Shorty Harris”, by Fred Bervoets, and a version of Icarus by Dre Peters.

The museum is a member of the Alliance of Artists Communities and is free to enter.

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I have an insatiable wanderlust for the extraordinary. Born with an adventurous spirit, I have spent over the past decade exploring the far reaches of our planet, seeking out the strange and mysterious.

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In the first half of the 20th century, towns were rapidly built to house the many workers required to mine the nitrate.

However, when the industry turned and was no longer viable, these communities quickly fell into ruin.

This was the case for Chacabuco, which is not only one of the largest ghost towns in Chile, it was once used as a concentration camp during the earliest period of the Pinochet military dictatorship.

In short, it is a remote, must-see visit for any discerning dark tourist in Chile.

History of Chacabuco Mining Town

However, the mines there were short-lived. The American depression in the 1930s alongside the invention of synthetic nitrate by the Germans meant that by the 1940 northern Chile’s nitrate industry was on its last legs.

The impact of the demise was dramatic. What had been almost 50% of Chile’s Gross National Product fell to almost zero.

As a town, Chacabuco had only survived 14 years. As the mines closed, the workers left for opportunities elsewhere. What had once been a bustling community of over 5,000 workers and their families became abandoned.

Facilities such as the theater, library, pool, and sports center and of course all the houses, fell in to ruin.

Chacabuco became a time capsule of Chilian life in the 30s. So much so the government declared it a national monument and began protecting it in 1971.

However, this coveted status did not last long. After the 1973 Coup d’État made by General Augusto Pinochet, the future of Chacabuco became very bleak indeed.

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Chacabuco Prison Camp

To house the prisoners a large area of Chacabuco was surrounded by electrified fences and watchtowers. Beyond that perimeter, the site was secured by landmines. (There is currently believed to be 98 lost landmines around Chacabuco, so visitors beware.)

In a rather tragic twist of irony, the government undersecretary of education who had signed off on Chacabuco becoming a national monument just 2 years before, was imprisoned too. He died shortly after release.

Approximately 1,800 prisoners were held there during its two-year use. The vast majority never made it out alive.

After the prison closed, Chacabuco was again abandoned and left to the elements. It remained this way until the 1990s when preservation attempts finally began.

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Protection from vandalism

Headed by an ex-prisoner of Chacabuco, two former inmates of the camp returned to look after the site as caretakers.

The first was Roberto Saldívar. He lived there until his death in 2006. At this stage, the responsibility was to prevent further damage from vandalism, (the town church had been burned to the ground by arsonists sometime in the 1980s).

Pedro Barreda took over from Saldívar and still lives there to this day.

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Where is Chacabuco Ghost Town

• Address: Chacabuco, Sierra Gorda, Antofagasta, Chile
• Admission: 2000 CLP
• Opening times: Daily, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 6 p.m.

Visiting Chacabuco Today

In 1992 a small amount of restoration work was made on the old theatre with aid from Germany’s Goethe Institute. This culminated in a permanent exhibition in the former library rooms connected to the theatre.

Today, the theatre is by far the most pristine building in the town. The grand, whitewashed, three-story building stands proudly, adjacent to the main square.

This too has seen some refurbishment works done. The square now contains a children’s play area, some benches, and newly planted trees surround a small bandstand type construction.

The effect is disconcerting, however. The rest of Chacabuco remains an abandoned ghost town, encroaching on this small pocket of newness.

Many of the original buildings are at risk of collapse through neglect. Streets and pathways are covered in dust and debris.

Parts of the nitrate production plant still exist. The 35m high chimney is the tallest structure in Chacabuco.

Walking Tour

Bilingual signs (Spanish and English) are present around the site. A large panel in the square provides a guide to the site, as well as a map.

You can then follow a route that leads you past 8 more informational panels along a circuit around the town.

North-west of the square is where the prison camp section used to be. There are no watchtowers or fences left, however, some of the original worker’s buildings that were used as prison wards during the life of the camp do remain.

It is best not to wander past the old perimeter here due to the aforementioned mine situation.

Despite most of the buildings being in a nearly ruined state, it is still very interesting to walk among them. Some still feature interesting wall murals, presumably created by former prisoners.

South of the main square are some larger buildings that used to be the mining company administration offices. There is also the old supermarket from when the town was a thriving community.

Behind these, you will find the ruins of some workshops. Amazingly some of the old industrial machinery still exist, large rusting hulks destined to be inside these dilapidated buildings forever.

To see the nitrate production facilities you need to head to the eastern side of town. (Just follow the chimney stack). Here you will find more old machines, industrial debris, and most impressive of all, remnants of the giant boilers.

Here you will find the ruins of larger houses that once belonged to the managers and upper-level administrators of the town.

You can just about make out some of the former grandeur. The footprint of the buildings hints to the relative luxury of the living conditions, compared to the smaller dwellings nearer the center.

Look out for some of the abandoned vehicles here too. The sight of these old 1920s car wrecks makes you wish you could take them home for restoration.

The Exhibition Area

Here an exhibition containing text-and-photo information panels provides some detailed history of the nitrate industry in Chile.

There are also some glass display cabinets with items that once belonged to the workers; tools, clothes, and shoes for example.

There is also information about Chacabuco as a detention camp, including artifacts from the time such as barbed wire, bullets, and quotes from the inmates’ testimonies during their incarcaration.

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I have an insatiable wanderlust for the extraordinary. Born with an adventurous spirit, I have spent over the past decade exploring the far reaches of our planet, seeking out the strange and mysterious.

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That all changed quite dramatically in 1948 after Stalin’s government decided to open a top-secret biological weapons research facility on the island.

Kantubek, A quiet village on the north of the island was closed to the outside world and transformed into a military town named Aralsk-7. The laboratories were built to the south.

For the next 40 years, Soviet scientists experimented with some of the deadliest pathogens known to man.

In an attempt to weaponize these diseases, they conducted open-air tests on smallpox, anthrax, and the bubonic plague.

Kantubek is now a ghost town. Furthermore, due to the shrinking of the Aral Sea, Vozrozhdeniye Island is no longer an island.

With the abandoned facility now connected to the mainland, and untold amounts of deadly substances potentially buried in the soil, this is possibly one of the most dangerous dark tourist locations on earth.

History of Kantubek, Vozrozhdeniye Island

A child of Stalinist paranoia and the “arms race” to develop biological weapons to use against the West, Kantubek was the Soviet’s largest research center devoted to the cause.

Approximately 1,500 inhabitants lived on the island full time, all of which risked their lives, both in doing the job and if they spoke out about it.

Kantubek was chosen not only for its remote, off-limits location but also for the warm, dry climate of the Aral region. With a ground-level temperature of 6 degrees Celsius, the conditions were perfect for limiting the spread of pathogenic microorganisms.

Professor Ivan Velikanov, a specialist in bacteriological warfare headed the facility, leading some of the most ambitious tests so far conducted in the field.

However, after a decade in charge of the unit, he became a victim of Stalinist terror. For undocumented reasons, he was discharged and later, executed.

For a short while, the facility was put on hiatus. This ended after a 1952 ratification by the Soviet authorities (still led by Stalin) to resume the experiments.

More funding saw a large scale expansion of Vozrozhdeniye Island. An airport was added to the west of the island, the only one in the USSR with four tracks in a star-shape, (created so that planes could land from any direction during strong winds).

More sophisticated laboratories were developed. A port complex was also built to enable constant patrol of the waters around the island. Secrecy, after all, was sacrosanct.

Experiments were now being conducted on the most dangerous pathogenic agents in the world, including anthrax, botulinus toxin, typhus, and brucellosis. Any data leak could have proved catastrophic to the Soviet government, these substances had the capacity to decimate populations on a grand scale.

Alarmingly, we do know that soviet scientists did release these substances into the atmosphere. Tests were conducted over the uninhabited areas of the island, often dropped from airplanes.

They were also injected into animals within the experimentation zone.

In the 1980s it is reported that 500 monkeys imported from Africa by the USSR Foreign Trade Department were subjected to biological tests. Infected with a microbial strain of tularemia, their bodies were burned and buried on the island.

The tests came to an abrupt end, not long after the fall of the Soviet Union. In 1992, Moscow decided to relocate the entire “Barkhan” complex to Kirov.

Kantubek was quickly abandoned and has been a ghost town ever since. Vozrozhdeniya Island meanwhile, is now part of modern-day Uzbekistan.

Sinister Incidents on the island

The island has long been implicated with a series of deadly sinister incidents.

In 1971, a scientist fell ill after the research vessel she was on was engulfed by a brownish haze. A few days later she was diagnosed with smallpox.

She did recover, however, the outbreak spread to nine other people in her hometown, three of which subsequently died.

Another incident occurred a year later in 1972. Two fishermen went missing on the waters of the Aral sea. Eventually, the bodies were found, drifting in their boat. It is believed that they had caught the plague.

Other strange events have been connected to the island, including spells where locals would land whole nets of dead fish.

A well-documented incident occurred in May 1988. 50,000 saiga antelope that had been grazing on a steppe not far from the island, dropped dead – all in the space of one hour.

Shrouded in mystery, with the unlikelihood that the Russian authorities will ever release information on the circumstances surrounding these events, one can only wonder what else went on, and how many more fatalities occurred.

Getting to Vozrozhdeniye Island and Kantubek Ghost Town

There is a gravel road from the Uzbek town of Moqnay that leads to the former base and city on the island.

Visiting Vozrozhdeniye Island and Kantubek Ghost Town

Visiting the island can be considered dark tourism on an extreme level.

Aside from the potential dangers, this is not an easy place to get to. Arriving in this region of Uzbekistan is an adventure in itself.

What greets you at first instance is a normal soviet ghost town malaise. Communist-style apartment blocks with glassless windows and collapsed ceilings, roads littered with weeds and debris, and dilapidated industrial installations.

However, as you proceed it is possible to see signs of where the military burned the more hazardous areas in order to limit contamination.

The former laboratories are burnt out shells, wrecked army trucks, and destroyed equipment indicate that this was no ordinary town.

Not much is left of the former airport. The unique 4-way runway has been all but devoured by the desert.

Needless to say, very few people go there. One notable exception is the Russian urban explorer Ninurta. A frequent visitor to the area, he has published this very interesting video about his time on Vozrozhdeniya Island and the abandoned facilities of Aralsk-7, (see below).

Decontamination

It is worth knowing that there have been some attempts to decontaminate the island.

In 2002, Brian Hayes, a biochemical engineer with the United States Threat Reduction Agency, led an expedition to Vozrozhdeniye.

The aim was to neutralize what was considered the world’s largest anthrax dumpsite. Hayes, along with a team of 113 people collected approximately 200 tonnes of anthrax over a three-month period.

Good news to a degree. The zone is still considered to be highly dangerous with stocks of biochemical agents waiting to be discovered among the ruins of the abandoned facility.

Image Credits: MACTAK

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I have an insatiable wanderlust for the extraordinary. Born with an adventurous spirit, I have spent over the past decade exploring the far reaches of our planet, seeking out the strange and mysterious.

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The stone buildings of this once-bustling town stand empty, after being abandoned abruptly in 1922. The citizens fell victim to the purges that took place shortly after WW1 with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Over 10,000 people once lived here. All that’s left now are hundreds of roofless homes dotted along the hillside and a couple of long deserted churches.

The Mediterranean sea glistens at the bottom of the valley, a tranquil sight juxtaposed against the stone desolation of Kayaköy.

The History

So how did it come to be? Why did the people of Kayaköy flee their ancestral homes?

The short answer is religion and war.

The vast majority of the population (of what was then called Levissi) was Greek Orthodox. They had lived in the area since the 14th century.

However, after WW1 and the subsequent Greco-Turkish War, hundreds of thousands of Greeks fled the violence taking place in Turkey.

So much so, the respective governments agreed on a mutual population exchange. The Turks purged all Ottoman Greeks from its land, while the Greek authorities sent all its Muslim residents to Turkey.

The arrangement meant that the residents of Kayaköy had to leave everything behind and were exiled to Greece. In their place came the Muslims, who soon found that the Kaya Valley was unsuitable for their agricultural needs.

Levissi became known as Kayakoy, or Rock Village as a result and remained abandoned as this new population resettled in other areas of Turkey.

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Where is Kayaköy

• Address: 48300 Fethiye/Muğla, Turkey

Hiking from Fethiye is a wonderful option if you have the legs for it (and traveling out of season). An 8-km long cobbled, medieval path takes you through the forest with wonderful views of the valley at times. Allow 3 hours for the walk.

The streets of the ghost village can be difficult to walk along if you have mobility issues. Sturdy shoes are advised, and if visiting in the summer, bring sun cream and water.

Kayaköy Today

The hillside of Kayaköy remains deserted to this day. The town as it was in the early 1920s exists today in a dilapidated state due to almost 100 years of exposure to the elements and looting.

Beyond the homes and churches, shops, cafes, and the local school still stand, these crumbling structures a reminder of the once-bustling community.

Development is not permitted in the area, as the Turkish Ministry of Culture has granted the town museum status.

This makes it a must-see location for dark tourists in Turkey. You can literally walk amongst the ruins, entering the homes of people long since dead.

In the dusty, weed-strewn streets you can still find the broken fountains and cisterns that once watered the city.

The remains of the Kato Panagia, the town’s Lower Church is an especially poignant experience.

One can imagine the church’s former glory. Faded frescoes adorn the walls, the vaulted ceilings evoke the lost grandeur. You almost hear the ghost-echoes of residents that would have once held prayer there or celebrated weddings and christenings as well as the somber tone of funerals.

Walking through Kayaköy with a little imagination you can picture the community before everyone fled. It is an experience that will stay with you.

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Good to know

The nearest airport to Kayaköy is Dalaman Airport, which is located 60km northwest of the town.

The best place to find accommodation during your stay is in Hisaronu and Oludeniz (the former is larger and more vibrant at night). Both towns have an abundance of Airbnb apartments, hotels, and hostels.

It is also possible to find accommodation right next to the abandoned town. The Misafir Evi is located on the valley floor beneath Kayakoy and has nine double rooms available.

There are also a few restaurants in the inhabited area close to Kayakoy, the Levissi Garden being the best as it has excellent food, views of the ghost town, and even offers a shuttle service to and from local hotels.

On the subject of transport, minibusses from Fethiye, Ölüdeniz, and Hisaronu run to the abandoned town every 30 to 60 minutes (depending on the season).

Because of the hot climate, the best time to travel to Kayaköy is in the spring or autumn.

There is a private museum near the entrance to the abandoned area of town, with information on the history of Kayaköy and its subsequent fate.

Admission to the village is five Turkish Lira, with the ticket booth situated by the Lower Church.

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Featured Image: Nikodem Nijaki / CC BY-SA

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Stew Baxter

I have an insatiable wanderlust for the extraordinary. Born with an adventurous spirit, I have spent over the past decade exploring the far reaches of our planet, seeking out the strange and mysterious.

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