The United States is what happens when an entire country looks at the concept of “reasonable” and says: Nah. Make it fucking bigger.
Bigger cities. Bigger highways. Bigger mountains. Bigger pickup trucks. Bigger drinks. Bigger national parks. Bigger parking lots. Bigger restaurant portions delivered with complete sincerity to one human being.
America has apparently spent 250 years asking “but what if we added another lane?”
And honestly, that’s part of the fun.
You can stand beneath skyscrapers in New York, drive through the desert toward Las Vegas, watch the sun disappear into the Pacific in California, explore volcanoes in Hawaii, chase northern lights in Alaska or wander through landscapes in Utah that look like someone accidentally loaded another planet.
Then there are the wonderfully unnecessary things.
Abandoned military installations. Aircraft graveyards. Nuclear history. World’s-largest-whatever roadside attractions. Forgotten dams covered in graffiti. Random historical markers beside highways that suddenly turn a gas stop into an hour-long detour.
This is where America gets interesting.
The downside is distance.
Everything looks manageable until Google Maps announces your next destination is 1,147 miles away. Public transportation outside major cities can become theoretical, and eventually you’ll realize the classic American road trip is partly romantic nostalgia and partly sitting in a fucking car for nine hours.
But few countries offer this much variety.
The United States is huge, beautiful, weird, excessive and endlessly explorable.
Come for the famous shit.
Then take the wrong exit.
Because America gets considerably more interesting when the itinerary starts falling apart.
Top-Rated Dark Tourism Destinations in United States
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Destinations to Explore in United States
Behind the Scenes
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Dark Places, Worse Stories
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Urban Adventures
26EntriesLatest Dark Tourism Destinations in United States
Everglades Jetport: Alligator Alcatraz Wasn’t Even Its Worst Idea
Before Alligator Alcatraz made headlines, the Everglades Jetport was already one of Florida’s greatest WTF moments: a massive runway built for Concordes, surrounded by swamp, alligators and absolutely nothing else.
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ValuJet 592: The Flight the Everglades Swallowed
On May 11, 1996, ValuJet Flight 592 departed Miami International Airport for what should have been an entirely forgettable flight to Atlanta. Eleven minutes later, the aircraft was on fire. Minutes after that, all 110 people aboard were dead. Flight 592 crashed into the Florida Everglades northwest of Miami, disappearing into a landscape so remote …
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Buckner Building: Alaska’s Soviet-Proof Shithole
Visit a 14-story decaying building from the World War II era that sits vacant in Whittier, Alaska
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Pinal Airpark: Because You Can’t Park a 747 at Walmart
When COVID absolutely wrecked global air travel, airlines suddenly had thousands of airplanes and nowhere to fly them. The solution? Park the damn things in the Arizona desert.
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Gold Hill Dam: Oregon’s Accidental Graffiti Gallery
Hiding behind some bushes near an Oregon highway is an abandoned piece of Gold Hill Dam covered in graffiti, decay and questionable access. It’s basically Centralia’s Penis Highway with concrete walls, fewer tourists and a much better chance you’ll drive right past without ever knowing it exists.
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Three Mile Island: The Reactor Melted. Please Stay Calm.
Discover the fascinating history and gain a deeper understanding of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant and the 1979 partial nuclear meltdown of Unit 2
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Arlington National Cemetery: One Name I Actually Knew
Arlington National Cemetery is more than famous graves and perfectly aligned white headstones. It’s hundreds of thousands of individual stories, including one belonging to a girl I grew up with who made the ultimate sacrifice. Add the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and an absolutely fucking gorgeous autumn backdrop, and this is one place where eventually you just put the camera down and remember.
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Centralia: The Town Where Hell Is Technically Downstairs
Beneath the quiet forests of eastern Pennsylvania, an underground mine fire has been burning continuously since 1962, and it destroyed an entire town in the process. Centralia wasn’t abandoned because the mines closed. It was erased because the ground itself became uninhabitable. Today, only empty streets, forgotten cemeteries, and an invisible inferno remain, creating one of America’s most infamous dark tourism destinations. Once home to the legendary Graffiti Highway and widely associated with the eerie world of Silent Hill, Centralia is a haunting reminder that sometimes the scariest places aren’t fiction at all.
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