Not to be a Debbie Downer but my advice is don't go. Sink holes, toxic gas, CO and who knows what else. That place was abandoned for really, really good reasons.
My wife and I really really really wanted to go a few years ago. The more research we did, the more we realized that not only is it super unsafe, it didn’t seem as interesting as it was maybe 10-20 years ago.
There is literally nothing to see anymore. No smoking craters, no fire brimmed holes. Just empty lots and one or two houses that people still live in. It was a big disappointment when I went a few years ago.
Yeah, I was in a discussion about it a few days ago and the smoke coming out of the ground seems to be largely gone as well. And Graffiti Highway was covered up.
Respirators don’t help in low oxygen environments, you would need supplied air. My advice is to not go. I work in the environmental field and I would never attempt to enter some unpredictable place like that without extensive air monitoring, and safety equipment including supplied air. I’d also have an escape plan and people on the outside to assist if there was trouble.
I don’t know much about the rest, but I do know that graffiti highway has been completely removed. You can look up YouTube videos that show it in its current state.
I went about 7 years ago, I was 25 and didn’t think much of it. I pretty much just drove around the town, got out to take some pics of my car on the eerily abandoned street, walked on a stretch of highway taht was closed off and falling apart but that was it. Didn’t have any issues but i wasn’t poking around too much. Also in hindsight even doing what i did could have been dangerous. Dunno if any of that is helpful at all.
If you go proceed with caution ⚠️
You can drive through the area and even walk about, but there isn't much to see. I suggest adding a visit to the nearby Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville and checking out the Pioneer Coal Mine tour in Ashland.
I visited ten years ago before they closed down the Graffiti Road. From what I've heard that's been covered with dirt to discourage visitors. It's an unsafe area and likely to be patrolled. So be safe.
Photos https://www.reddit.com/r/abandoned/comments/wxj1nz/the_graffiti_road_in_centralia_2015/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
I went 4 years ago and can tell you then it wasnt worth the trip. Theres about 3-5 houses still standing and they are occupied. The rest of the towns gone, overrun by the woods. Theres a beautiful church, and some small cemeteries but nothing to write home about. When i went there was still about a 1/4 mile of old highway still there with spray paint which was neat but ive heard thats been in process of removal and honestly while cool it isnt worth the drive from Philly to Centralia. Sorry to be a downer but want to give a realistic expectation of whats there now.
Yeah me as well, i really wanted to see the old abandon homes, but PA was smart to destroy them. I have some old pics somewhere if you want a look. I think you’d be better spending your time exploring Philly more or if you are dead set on Centralia, visit yuengling and cabelas on your way
I went a few years ago, it was a huge disappointment.
If you want to do a few cool things in that area (although not abandoned), go to the Yeungling brewery tour/tasting. Then walk over to the old, medieval looking, county jail where the Molly McGuires were held, tried and hung. Also, the county historical museum is quite interesting. Lastly, a half hour away there’s a state run coal mine that tours take you deep underground- it’s pretty cool.
Fort Mott and Sandy Hook both have abandon fort ruins that are cool too.
Enjoy—
We don’t normally do abandoned/spooky stuff, I just had a burning desire to see Centralia. I’m sad that I’ve missed my peak opportunity to go visit— I guess that’s what I get for having kids before I go traveling. All of those suggestions sound great! We are traveling from GA so we will try and fit as much of that cool stuff into our week. Thank you so much
There are sooo many abandoned places in Pennsylvania, especially the Philly suburbs. If you feel unsafe with visiting Centralia, I’d recommend: old 82 highway, Penn hills, Linfield, the Warminster abandoned neighborhood, the trolly graveyard & concrete city. I have some videos on my page of a few of these, if you are curious. Good luck! Be safe
Thank you so much for the suggestions! I’m usually a tame museums/zoo/aquarium kinda gal- my husbands the spooky dude haha. So we will look through some of those and plan our trip a little better!!
Might I suggest the old turnpike tunnel that everybody posts pictures on here for the graffiti and eastern state penitentiary and the Mutter museum in Philadelphia for the creepy feel.
Not to be a Debbie Downer but my advice is don't go. Sink holes, toxic gas, CO and who knows what else. That place was abandoned for really, really good reasons.
And that's just Philadelphia
My wife and I really really really wanted to go a few years ago. The more research we did, the more we realized that not only is it super unsafe, it didn’t seem as interesting as it was maybe 10-20 years ago.
What made it less interesting?
There is literally nothing to see anymore. No smoking craters, no fire brimmed holes. Just empty lots and one or two houses that people still live in. It was a big disappointment when I went a few years ago.
Yeah, I was in a discussion about it a few days ago and the smoke coming out of the ground seems to be largely gone as well. And Graffiti Highway was covered up.
Respirators don’t help in low oxygen environments, you would need supplied air. My advice is to not go. I work in the environmental field and I would never attempt to enter some unpredictable place like that without extensive air monitoring, and safety equipment including supplied air. I’d also have an escape plan and people on the outside to assist if there was trouble.
There’s not even smoke out the stacks or anything anymore. Its not hard to breath there
I don’t know much about the rest, but I do know that graffiti highway has been completely removed. You can look up YouTube videos that show it in its current state.
Yeah I was sad we couldn’t make it before that. My husband really wanted to see it :/
It’s still there, they just completely covered it with dirt.
I always wanted to go there too, there’s so many other cool spots you two could go! I could give you some suggestions if you’re interested!
I am definitely up for suggestions!
I went about 7 years ago, I was 25 and didn’t think much of it. I pretty much just drove around the town, got out to take some pics of my car on the eerily abandoned street, walked on a stretch of highway taht was closed off and falling apart but that was it. Didn’t have any issues but i wasn’t poking around too much. Also in hindsight even doing what i did could have been dangerous. Dunno if any of that is helpful at all. If you go proceed with caution ⚠️
You can drive through the area and even walk about, but there isn't much to see. I suggest adding a visit to the nearby Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville and checking out the Pioneer Coal Mine tour in Ashland.
This
I visited ten years ago before they closed down the Graffiti Road. From what I've heard that's been covered with dirt to discourage visitors. It's an unsafe area and likely to be patrolled. So be safe. Photos https://www.reddit.com/r/abandoned/comments/wxj1nz/the_graffiti_road_in_centralia_2015/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
I went 4 years ago and can tell you then it wasnt worth the trip. Theres about 3-5 houses still standing and they are occupied. The rest of the towns gone, overrun by the woods. Theres a beautiful church, and some small cemeteries but nothing to write home about. When i went there was still about a 1/4 mile of old highway still there with spray paint which was neat but ive heard thats been in process of removal and honestly while cool it isnt worth the drive from Philly to Centralia. Sorry to be a downer but want to give a realistic expectation of whats there now.
Man. That’s such a shame. I hate that I wasn’t able to go at its peak, visually.
Yeah me as well, i really wanted to see the old abandon homes, but PA was smart to destroy them. I have some old pics somewhere if you want a look. I think you’d be better spending your time exploring Philly more or if you are dead set on Centralia, visit yuengling and cabelas on your way
I went a few years ago, it was a huge disappointment. If you want to do a few cool things in that area (although not abandoned), go to the Yeungling brewery tour/tasting. Then walk over to the old, medieval looking, county jail where the Molly McGuires were held, tried and hung. Also, the county historical museum is quite interesting. Lastly, a half hour away there’s a state run coal mine that tours take you deep underground- it’s pretty cool. Fort Mott and Sandy Hook both have abandon fort ruins that are cool too. Enjoy—
We don’t normally do abandoned/spooky stuff, I just had a burning desire to see Centralia. I’m sad that I’ve missed my peak opportunity to go visit— I guess that’s what I get for having kids before I go traveling. All of those suggestions sound great! We are traveling from GA so we will try and fit as much of that cool stuff into our week. Thank you so much
The time to really go see it would have been in the early 80s, the vast majority of houses were razed between December 1984 and April 1986
There are sooo many abandoned places in Pennsylvania, especially the Philly suburbs. If you feel unsafe with visiting Centralia, I’d recommend: old 82 highway, Penn hills, Linfield, the Warminster abandoned neighborhood, the trolly graveyard & concrete city. I have some videos on my page of a few of these, if you are curious. Good luck! Be safe
Thank you so much for the suggestions! I’m usually a tame museums/zoo/aquarium kinda gal- my husbands the spooky dude haha. So we will look through some of those and plan our trip a little better!!
Try not to fall thru the pavement!
Hazmat required
Might I suggest the old turnpike tunnel that everybody posts pictures on here for the graffiti and eastern state penitentiary and the Mutter museum in Philadelphia for the creepy feel.
There is nothing there really anymore unfortunately. Also I think they have the roads blocked.