THE URBAN EXPLORER

Welcome to The Urban Explorer blog! We have stories about urban exploration from around the world, from interesting public places to hidden, exploded bunkers with rebar pointing all the wrong ways.

More urban exploration-related articles:

The Sonnimäki Soviet Bunkers
Bunkers... where we were supposed to find a bunker was what seemed the remains of two regular houses, one with a basement. But a hundred meters away we found an almost intact Soviet bunker.
Full story

October 2017, Rauniotalo, Sonnimäki, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Rauniotalo ja kellari, Sonnimäki, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Bunkkeri 1, Sonnimäki, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers, Ruins, Vehicles); Caving (Man-Made)

Killinmäki Bunker
There's just a little bit of warning tape, but most of it is gone. And one danger sign in a tree, visible from one direction only. The bunker is gone though, or hiding underground, with no easy way to enter. Just some holes in the ground that one needs to be careful of not stepping into.
Full story

October 2017, Killinmäen bunkkeri, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)

Majvik Bunker
It is getting dark very early in Finland, so today I stopped to see a possible bunker in Majvik on the way to the office. I found a bunker with clear entrances go inside, as well as a small roof cave on a cliff near the bunker.
Full story

October 2017, Majvikin bunkkeri, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Majvikin pieni lippaluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made); Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic, Surveying)

Blasted Big Bunker
Guest writer article from Jarmo: There was snow and rain, kids did not want to join and I had a schedule mismatch with Jari so I decided to stay at home. But after a while I figured that it would be nice to do some Sunday walk in the forest anyway. From local orienteering club Lynx map I had checked a bunker with an interesting description, "blasted big bunker".
Full story

October 2017, Kärinberget quarry, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Quarries)

Silo 468
One of the large, round oil silos in Helsinki's Laajasalo has been decommissioned, and turned into a light show. Nice!
Full story

October 2017, Öljysäiliö 468, Helsinki, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Silos, Industrial); Art

Jorvas Bunkers
How can one work somewhere for 25 years, and NEVER visit a lake just a few hundred meters away? I really don't know, but in my defence I went there today. And found trenches and flooded bunkers.
Full story
(TGR version)

October 2017, Jorvas bunkkeri 1, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas bunkkeritie, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas juoksuhauta, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas potero 1, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas potero 2, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas potero 3, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas potero 4, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers, Trenches); Caving (Man-Made); Hiking

Elfvik Quarries
I've been sick, and with painful feet problems for a long time. I wanted to get out today, to test if I can move around. Or breathe outside air. I chose to visit the Elfvik Quarries in Espoo, near Villa Elfvik.
Full story

September 2017, Elfvikin louhos 1, Espoo, Finland; Elfvikin louhos 2 ja 3, Espoo, Finland; Elfvikin louhos 4, Espoo, Finland; Elfvikin louhos 5, Espoo, Finland; Elfvikin louhos 6, Espoo, Finland; Elfvikin louhos 7, Espoo, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Quarries)

The Stockmann Ruins
Today's newspaper had a story about the difficulties of the Stockmann department stories. Will they make it? However, in 1920 an even greater tragedy hit the Stockmann family and left the family house in ruins. The ruins are nearby in Kauniainen, so the day felt like a good day to visit them again.
Full story
(Suomenkielinen versio)

September 2017, Stockmannin rauniot, Kauniainen, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Buildings, Ruins)

Dalsvik Limestone Quarry
Since my foot didn't like the walk I did few days ago, an obvious thing to do was to go try more quarries, and this time climb a fence. Without noticing that the fence would have ended if we had walked 10 meters further.
Full story

September 2017, Laaksolahden kalkkikivilouhos, Espoo, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Quarries)

Ruins of the Dalsvik Mansion Gazebo
Today we visited the ruins of a gazebo in Laaksolahti (Dalsvik). The gazebo, or pavilion belonged to the Dalsvik Mansion. If all this sounds funny, in Finnish place was called "Laaksolahden kartanon huvimaja".
Full story

September 2017, Laaksolahden kartanon huvimajan rauniot, Espoo, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Ruins)

Can't find the Österbacken Quarry
There's supposed to be an old quarry in Juvanmalmi. But I kept going up and down near the coordinates, but found nothing. Wrong coordinates? As the darkness came, I did manage however to put my painful foot to a hole in the ground, have it get twisted, and stuck.
Full story

September 2017, Österbackenin päälouhos, Vantaa, Finland; Österbackenin mahdollinen historiallinen louhos, Vantaa, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Quarries)

Österbacken II
In better daylight and with Jarmo's help we now found the quarry. I must have walked 20 meters from the quarry wall (a 10+ meter drop, btw) yesterday.
Full story

September 2017, Österbackenin päälouhos, Vantaa, Finland; Juvanmalmin louhos, Espoo, Finland; Juvanmalmin tuhottu louhos, Espoo, Finland; Österbackenin mahdollinen historiallinen louhos, Vantaa, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Quarries); Caving (Man-Made)

The Mannerheim Bunker
A small announcement in the newspaper -- Mannerheim's bunker to open for visitors. Of course I had to go...
Full story

August 2017, Tamminiemi, Helsinki, Finland
Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Bunkers)

Kasaberget cave and abandoned concrete houses
I was searching for a place to visit this Sunday... with pretty much the only requirement being that a teenager would be interested in going. We ended up going to Kasaberget in Kirkkonummi.
Full story

June 2017, Abandoned warehouses, Strömsby, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Kasabergetin luola, Strömsby, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic, Surveying); Urban-Exploration (Buildings, Ruins); History

Ruins of the Bemböle Watermill
Can you drive by something for 20 years, and not be aware of the wonders just few meters from the road? You can. I had not heard about the Bemböle watermill ruins.
Full story

June 2017, Bembölen vanha mylly, Espoo, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Ruins); Caving (Man-Made)

Dead Cat Margarine
Dead cats were blended into margarine and fed to humans. We're going to a secret, abandoned tunnel to meet the ghosts of the cats. But it won't be easy to get there.
Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)

April 2017, Undisclosed Finnish location, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Tunnels); Caving (Man-Made)

This is the 9th set of articles. The previous sets were set 1, set 2, set 3, set 4, set 5, set 6, set 7, and set 8. The next sets are set 10, and set 11.

The Urban Explorer articles appeared originally in the Blogspot Planetskier series, at TGR posts, or at the Relaa website. See also the articles about skiing, climbing, cycling, caving, flying, swimming, and saunas.