NOT NEW OR CRAZE-LIKE!

Ventures into abandoned structures are perhaps the most common example of urban exploration. At times, sites are entered first by locals, and may sport large amounts of graffiti and other acts of vandalism. Explorers face various risks in abandoned structures including collapsing roofs and floors, broken glass, guard dogs, the presence of chemicals and other harmful substances, most notably asbestos, hostile squatters and motion detectors. Some explorers wear respirators to protect their airways and proper attire to protect their bodies.

Although targets of exploration vary from one country to another, high-profile abandonments include amusement parks, grain elevators, factories, power plants, missile silos, fallout shelters, hospitals, asylums, schools, poor houses, and sanatoriums.

Many explorers find decay of uninhabited space to be profoundly beautiful and some are also proficient freelance photographers. Abandoned locations can be, at times, heavily guarded with motion sensors and active security. Others are more easily accessible and carry less risk of discovery. An important goal, overall, of exploring a location is to gain access, perform your task, and remove yourself undetected, unscathed, causing no harm to others or that which surrounds you. Abandoned sites are also popular among historians, preservationists, architects, archaeologists, industrial archaeologists, and ghost hunters.




Entry into storm drains, or draining, is another common form of urban exploration. Groups devoted to the task have arisen, such as the Cave Clan in Australia. Draining has a specialized set of guidelines, the foremost of which is "When it rains, no drains!" The dangers of becoming entrapped, washed away, or killed increase dramatically during a heavy rain fall.

A small subset of explorers enter sanitary sewers. Sometimes they are the only connection to caves or other subterranean features. Sewers are among the most dangerous locations to explore owing to extremely high risks of poisoning by buildups of toxic gas (commonly methane and hydrogen sulfide). There have been numerous fatalities around the world where people are overcome by toxic gas from sewers. The only safe way to enter a sewer is if the atmosphere has been tested by a monitoring device and confined space entry procedures are followed.

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