The world is getting more and more populated and most land areas have been discovered. That has laid the foundation for a new trend: Urban Exploration.
Urban exploration, also known as urbex, is simply about exploring urban and man-made places, such as abandoned factories, old mines or underground constructions.
As it all revolves around exploration it comes with a fair share of secrecy and many may wonder how it actually works. Therefore we have put together an introduction to this.
What it really is
As mentioned above it is about urban exploration rather than natural. Still, there is no clear definition of what this actually covers. Old mines are not particularly urban, but definitively man-made and by no doubt a part of urbex. But natural caves are also often visited. For us this trend is simply about exploration, or more precisely re-exploration and the focus on the urban part is simply because there is more man-made locations to be re-discovered than natural ones. Google Maps has provided us with photos from the entire world and explorers have set their feet on most of the islands and mountain peaks in existence. Urbex has therefore seen a big rise in popularity in recent years to re-discover what we have forgotten existed.
What to explore may vary from person to person. For many people the focus is on the visual aspect and photographing places seen by very few others. For others the history and background of the location may be just as important. Hospitals for mental illnesses is a common destination due to the stories being told about what happened in such places.
How to get started?
There is a lot of secrecy surrounding urbex. One of the reasons for this is that abandoned places often fall victim to vandalism. Most people taking part in urbex live by a simple rule:
«Take only photographs and leave only footprints»
This is a clear reference to leaving all objects where you found them and to take your trash with you when you leave.
Another reason for secrecy is naturally the aspect of exploration. If everyone could find these places on TripAdvisor with good descriptions and coordinates, what would there be left to explore?
So, how can you find places no-one wants to talk about? Well, some places are relatively well known. Although guided tours may not exactly count as urbex it can provided a taste of the kind of places to explore. There are guided tours of old bunkers from wars, caves and much more. Last summer we went to the heavy water factory in Vemork in Norway, a place that was thought to have been blown up and that hadn’t seen daylight in 42 years. Although we were not the first ones to visit it still had an eerie feeling and visiting a building left hidden underground for so long was very exciting.
We have also visited Engelandsgrua, a place that is not very secret and we therefore decided to share information about how to get there. There are many of these places, Google is your guide! There are also several Facebook groups and discussion boards dedicated specifically to Urbex where people talk about and give suggestions on interesting places to explore.
Other locations have to be found by good old-fashioned real world searching or by talking to locals who know about these hidden gems.
We discovered this 390 metre long log flume tunnel by a pure chance and got to know more about it by talking to the locals.
In another place we had heard rumours of an abandoned mine and thanks to a local we found this place.
Here are some other exciting places we have found, to give an idea of what is out there:
From a legal point of view
Most areas worthy of exploration is owned by someone. That leads to a few legal challenges. If you enter someone else’s property without permission it will in most cases be seen as trespassing. The information below is based on Norwegian rules and regulations, but many other countries will have similar rules.
Urbex has to a large extent been in a legal grey area, but we are assuming that most people reading this want to stay within the boundaries of the law. Is that a showstopper? Thankfully that’s not the case.
While there are plenty of places where entering would be considered trespassing there are also a lot of places that are perfectly legal to enter.
The most obvious is places in the open, such as old railroads, log flumes and buildings that can be viewed from the outside. Many places are still on private property though, and in those cases the same rules apply as for everything else: The freedom to roam gives you access to the backcountry, but as soon as you jump a fence or enter through a door you are probably stepping onto the wrong side of the law.
When it comes to the freedom to roam it is not completely clear where to draw the line. Some claim that abandoned (open) mines are a part of the backcountry and therefore open to the public, while others see it as a man-made construction equal to a house and should be considered private property. What is correct? We don’t have the answer to that, but it is good to be aware that the law is not completely clear here.
Another obvious way if exploring legally is to join a guided tour. It may of course not be as exciting, but when we went to Belgium we visited two caves and a mine that was very exciting, despite being “touristified”.
Last, but not least: If you get permission from the landowner there are of course no problems. In Norway the Norwegian Mapping Authority has an overview of who owns property in any given location which can be used to get in touch and ask for permissions.
Gear
Urbex does not require a lot of gear, but a few things are good to have.
Clothing
Abandoned places tend to lag behind on cleaning services. Bring clothes that can get dirty and that can handle a bit of crawling. Exploration should after all be a bit challenging and immersive.
Many abandoned places are also moist, wet or muddy. Mines are often flooded as well. A pair of wellies and shoes with good grip is key. If you venture into deeper water waders may come in handy too.
Safety gear
If you enter a cave with a risk of collapse a helmet is probably not sufficient, but it will keep you from bumping your head into the ceiling or sharp objects sticking out from walls.
Also remember to bring flashlights. Yes, plural. A good flashlight (ideally water proof) lets you see so much more of what you are exploring, but remember to bring a backup light as well. If you are far within a cave and the flashlight stops working you could be in serious trouble.
Camera
Of course not a requirement, but most people interested in urbex also like photographing it. Many situations require a wide field of view, so a wide angle lens is highly recommended. Many places are also dark, so bring a tripod and remote shutter controller. If you bring this along with flashlights a fast lens or light sensitive camera is actually not that important.
Capturing video is however much more demanding since long exposures are not possible. In most situations we use a 24 mm lens with an aperture of f/1.4 on a full frame camera with full pixel readout in video mode. That even works as an extra set of eyes as it sees better in the dark than our own eyes. A cheaper alternative is simply a powerful flashlight, but you have to be more aware of how to direct and use the light to get good results.
Some legal urbex locations in Norway
We have gathered a few places that we either have visited ourselves or plan on visiting in the future. Note that some places may have risks of collapses, landslides or other dangers and going here is done at your own risk. This is also a list of places we assume to be legal to visit, but as mentioned above the freedom to roam has an unclear definition and we take no responsibility for any incidents that may occur by visiting these places.
- Spro mine on Nesodden. Enter at your own risk and be aware of possibilities of collapse and landslides.
- The heavy water factory at Rjukan: Guided tour, exciting history.
- Log flume in Vennesla: Old log flume that is being maintained to be safe to walk in.
- Airplane wreck in Oslo: A fairly intact and exciting airplane wreck in the forest just 30 minutes with the train north of Oslo.
- Engelandsgrua: Also near Vennesla, two old mine entrances hidden in the forest.
- Airplane wreck at Ringebu: Norway’s and perhaps Europe’s best preserved airplane wreck in the wild. More to follow on this one in a future post!
Future tourism
At the end we have to say a few words about protection and preservation of historical places and objects. Unfortunately a lot of urbex locations have been torn down and removed due to being in bad shape and posing a safety hazard. While focus on safety is good it is very unfortunate that old places with historical value are being removed and that there is no funding to maintain it. More tourism is welcomed to Norway, but at the same time complaints are filed for over tourism in places like Geiranger and Lofoten.
An increasing interest in urbex in the last few years can solve both these problems by spreading tourists across many small and forgotten places and provide funding for maintenance. By providing a view into urbex we hope that the interest will rise and that this can help protect all the exciting and forgotten sites hidden all around Norway.
Have you ever tried urban exploration or would you like to after reading this?
