The hardest location I ever got into was Lynnewood Hall. Took two tries to get in. The first time we had to hide from the groundskeeper and couldn't find a way in. The second time we got lucky and the back door was left open. The third time was a disaster: Cops, guard dogs, groundskeeper, etc.

Thankfully we got away, but we aint going back there any time soon.

https://www.uer.ca...urrpage=1&pp#post0

A difficult question! There have been many hard locations, but each one was hard in a different way.

I'd say the most difficult one was an abandoned mental hospital. It was rather large, two wings, five floors plus basement. The doors were locked, windows were boarded shut. The only way in was through a first floor balcony. First you had to climb on a narrow concrete wall next to a basement entrance, grab a bar and pull yourself up to the balcony.

Of course this was also the only way out. We were behind the boarded windows most of the time, so we could only hear what was happening outside, not actually see it. After a an old lady saw us through the window, there were suddenly footsteps right below where we were exploring. Next a car parked in front of the house. We thought it was the guards, as several people had been fined for being in the building.

The car left, but next a group of children tried to enter through the balcony, which was too high for them. When we thought the route was clear, we noticed a group of around 20 retirees exploring the rose garden in front of the building.

When I finally jumped off the balcony, I landed right in the middle of three 10-year-olds, who had found a ladder. When they calmed down and we asked what actually had happened outside, they told us, that there had been a boy and a girl in the car and they were pulling up their pants when the kids came. So much for the guards.

That was probably the craziest shit. Then there have been several places, where entering has required some quite challenging athletic feats. On one occasion we tried to enter a small cottage. The entrance wing was slowly collapsing, so we actually lifted the facade around 20 cm aside to have enough space to enter. On another occasion someone had carved a hole about the size of a man in the side of the building. I had to limbo in backwards and head first without knowing what was actually inside.

An old people's house was about equally difficult. A door panel of around 50 x 50 cm had been removed. I somehow managed to enter through the hole, but exiting became quite a problem. And once I climbed inside an old store using makeshift stairs made out of an old chair and a pallet.

And then there was the house filled with barbed wire I described in the dangerous places thread. Took me around 20 minutes to walk a set of stairs to the first floor.

Attempted a power plant recently in a downtown area. In the past, it wasn't too hard to get in to but apparently they caught onto the few people that have done it. I pulled up to find a drive-in movie had been set up in front of the entrance, so the first step was infiltrating that. Then into a truck repair place with lots of sketchy blinking lights everywhere. Then I finally got to the freshly replaced fence with a police camera tower and flashing blue lights right on the other side. Left and went all the way around to the other side where I was met with a 12 ft electric fence. I was pretty sure it wasn't on and there was a way I could've gotten around it, but it was late and I didn't want to risk electric shock or falling 20 feet into a river with my camera bag. So I went around to the front. Security booth and office was quite staffed, but it was the only option. Found a blind spot and quickly slid under the fence into a neighboring truck storage place. It had some cameras at the front, so I had to crawl under about 20 seemingly abandoned trucks before I could get to the next active site, cross that, and then hop the fence and climb the razor wire and camera-covered coal chute into the plant. On my way over I accidentally came into view of a camera for a few seconds. A few minutes later, 2 trucks come hauling into the lot. I was sure that they were there for me, and not wanting to risk guns or dogs given the neighborhood, I turned back and went out the way I came in as fast as I could. So unfortunately I wasn't able to get into the plant, but now I know what to do for next time.

Victorian apartment block in downtown Waukegan. Made a sketchy, collapsible ladder with a hook on the end and climbed up to the second floor patio. Place was demoed later that week.

Had a few notable ones, more often than not due to how convoluted the routes involved were.

The nuclear missile storage bunkers at Greenham Common near where I live over here were a challenging feat a decade ago - the entire massive compound was surrounded by two of it's original military-spec 10ft chainlink/barbed wire topped fences plus a third newer, much bigger and more beefy fence made of reinforced steel mesh on the outside. A plan was hatched involving a collapsible ladder which made the job a little easier, especially on the outer fence which handily had an electrical substation building built across part of it - ladder on the side of the building, onto the roof, pull ladder up, down other side, then repeat for the next two fences.

The Redhill Odeon Cinema here too was probably the most ridiculous risky route into a building I've ever used, for comparatively little reward as the place was a stripped mess! Getting in was very convoluted, first we headed through the grounds of an adjacent community centre type property and over their boundary fence onto the boundary wall of the cinema. We then had to walk along the top of the wall which got further and further off the ground - luckily there was a fence behind it to hold onto - and then climb over a hoarding fence that straddled the top of the wall. This dropped us down into the old smoking area of the nightclub which occupied the building after the cinema closed. We then climbed up a fence panel resting against the side of the building up to a one brick wide ledge more than a storey off the ground, holding onto the drainpipe up there we shimmied along navigating around the pipe and climbed onto an air conditioning unit attached to the side of the building, from there it was a simple matter of feeding ourselves feet first through a barred window onto a filing cabinet in the stairwell. Getting out involved doing the whole thing in reverse too.

Also honourable mention for the old way into Wonderbread, climbing over the side of a railway trestle bridge onto a window ledge and feeding yourself down a grease and rubbish filled extraction duct into the boiler room is an adventure.

That's a tough question. All the "hardest" ones that come to mind immediately I either ended up gaining permission through personal connections, took advantage of worker schedules, or still haven't gotten in.

I've probably been luckier than most other explorers, having visited so many sites with so little security, but there've been a few places that provided more challenging climbs or infiltrations.

One of the most inventive was Nasan Homeplace, an abandoned department store at a mildly busy intersection in Gangnam.



Here's a picture of the fence around it:


To get in, I parked my scooter next to the fence so I could use it as a stepping stool. I was able to grab those yellow letters, which were made of some kind of foam material attached by adhesive, and use them as a foothold to boost myself up to the top.

I had to time entry with the movements of pedestrians as well as road traffic, to make sure there were no pedestrians approaching from either direction and no cars stopped where they could be watching me. It seemed safer to climb when approaching car traffic was driving rather than stopped at a red light.

Getting out was a simpler matter. There was a part of the building built right up to the inside of this part of the fence, where we could somewhat painlessly drop out. As I always say, fences are to keep you from getting in, not out.

a juvenile facility in the middle of a Suburb, multiple attempts, multiple fences, has security, closest i was able to get inside was a walk around the yard but no access entry to any buildings, as of now its being partially used by a developmental center down the road to isolate covid19 patients. ill give it another try this thanksgiving.

Can't say I have too many SUPER difficult successful explores, but I have one that has eluded me for literal decades.....

Without getting into too much detail, I've been checking a heavy steel door in a rock face in the middle of nowhere 3-4 times a year for 30+ years. The door has zero play with the jam. Hinges are internal. I can feel delightfully cool damp air coming from under the door. The lock is only single sided, but has no less than 11 pins on the tumbler and won't respond to bumping. It has 5 latches, 3 on the strike side, and 1 on the top and bottom. The 3 side latches all have pick/pry guards over them, and carriage bolted from the inside. I have no clue what's in there. Wisconsin doesn't have much underground mining, at least any that remains today and isn't documented on USGS records. There are no structures, no utilities on the 80 acre property. The owner lives several states away, is current on taxes, and has never responded to the handful of attempts I made to reach out. I even offered to pick up empty road beers and cut the grass in the ditch line and plant some trees. No response. I'll probably die not knowing what's in there, never the less I will continue to wiggle that door knob until that day comes.....

Can you share some photos of the door?

Posted by Turd Furgusen Can you share some photos of the door?

I'll have to dig for one. I'm sure I have one, but I can't recall when I last snapped a pic. Other than being out of place, it's pretty non-descript. Just a door in a rock....

The hardest spot I can think of was a military base near my hometown. I wanted to explore one of the older bunkers, that had been decommissioned. I didn't have a base pass to get on base, so ended up finding a way through the perimeter fence. From there I made my way through the woods to where the old bunker. Essentially had to dodge a number of military personal and base security. Wasn't extremely hard, but if I had been caught there'd been dire consequences.

Posted by fr00tCake Can't say I have too many SUPER difficult successful explores, but I have one that has eluded me for literal decades..... Without getting into too much detail, I've been checking a heavy steel door in a rock face in the middle of nowhere 3-4 times a year for 30+ years. The door has zero play with the jam. Hinges are internal. I can feel delightfully cool damp air coming from under the door. The lock is only single sided, but has no less than 11 pins on the tumbler and won't respond to bumping. It has 5 latches, 3 on the strike side, and 1 on the top and bottom. The 3 side latches all have pick/pry guards over them, and carriage bolted from the inside. I have no clue what's in there. Wisconsin doesn't have much underground mining, at least any that remains today and isn't documented on USGS records. There are no structures, no utilities on the 80 acre property. The owner lives several states away, is current on taxes, and has never responded to the handful of attempts I made to reach out. I even offered to pick up empty road beers and cut the grass in the ditch line and plant some trees. No response. I'll probably die not knowing what's in there, never the less I will continue to wiggle that door knob until that day comes.....

Almost sounds like it's an emergency bunker of some sort. Are you sure the owner is a private citizen?

Posted by fr00tCake Can't say I have too many SUPER difficult successful explores, but I have one that has eluded me for literal decades..... Without getting into too much detail, I've been checking a heavy steel door in a rock face in the middle of nowhere 3-4 times a year for 30+ years. The door has

I've heard of military stories of hidden doors in cliff/wall sides for emergency bunkers with everything you need to survive, step dad served for a while and told me about some locations but.. hid way better than what youre describing.

maybe you should get a hyper sonic super duper lazer cutter and melt the door open?

Posted by fr00tCake Just a door

This is uer.ca. There is no such thing as just a door here.

https://www.uer.ca...d=46561&currpage=1

A power plant. I won't elaborate because of legal reasons, but powerplants have hands down been some of the trickiest spots to get in to in my experience.

Posted by Emperor Wang This is uer.ca. There is no such thing as just a door here. https://www.uer.ca...d=46561&currpage=1

Oh yeah, the Florida Door reminds me of my trip through the Joseon Door.



I had to phone a friend to help me get through. On the other side, I've found hundreds of separate abandoned sites. I even found a place to live over there and moved in with my cats.

Well, it wasn't me, and obviously I would never do any breaking and entering, but I'd like to give a quick shout out to the guy who used what I can only assume was a jackhammer and a blowtorch to open a 2ft wide hole in an abandoned military installation on Long Island. I would never have been able to visit that place without the help of that extremely determined stranger.

Cincinnati Subway. The two main ways in are very secure, very large steel doors/entryways in very visible locations. It's a matter of someone working on the water main (or something else inside) and leaving the massive steel doors open for the evening. Hope ya don't get locked in!
(There are some street-level storm drains that exit into the subway, but to my knowledge no one has felt the need to enter through those yet.)

Posted by Steed Oh yeah, the Florida Door reminds me of my trip through the Joseon Door.

This reminds me of "the midget door" at a local ski resort lodge. We always wondered what was behind it, so one night I hopped the gate into the food court, went back into the kitchen, down some stairs and through some tunnels, and eventually popped out of the 3 foot tall 3 foot wide door. I left it unlocked for our convenience but came back the next season to find it locked again.

And about the actual door, I found a few small doors barred and welded shut on the cliff banks of the Colorado River in Moab. Couldn't find any info on them, so those doors are definitely a lifelong infiltration goal.