Show human beings a "Keep off the grass" sign, and half of them will step on it. As a species, we're fascinated by the forbidden. Luckily, there are hundreds of off-limits areas on earth to stoke our curiosity. From snake-filled Brazilian islands to Mayan ruins, and secret military bases that may contain UFOs and aliens, here are 30 of the world's most forbidden places.
Make sure you stay tuned to the end, as we're gonna finish with a short story about that time my girlfriend and I got chased down the Hollywood Hills by a police helicopter!
SKINWALKER RANCH, UTAH
Move over, Roswell; Skinwalker Ranch is a hive of paranormal activity and is off-limits to any wannabe Spooky Mulders out there. Based deep in myth-laden Navajo country in Utah, the ranch is home to UFO sightings, ghostly apparitions, talk of portals to another dimension and even a gateway to hell. In 2016, businessman and paranormal investigator Robert Bigelow sold the ranch to Adamantium Real Estate, who blocked roads and set up cameras and barbed wire to keep people out. However, you can check out the History Channel series. Personally, I think mesas have some electromagnetic shit going on around them, causing all sorts of weirdness.
LASCAUX CAVES, FRANCE
In 1940, 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat's dog, Robot, ran into a hole in the ground. Marcel and his friends followed Robot into a cave and discovered the Lascaux Caves. They feature over 600 Palaeolithic cave paintings from 20,000 years ago. The caves were open to the public until 1963, but all those visitors eroded the artworks. The caverns became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979. Nowadays, you cannot visit the real caves, but you can visit painstakingly created replicas next door.
THE VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES
Unless you're Dr. Robert Langdon from a Dan Brown novel, the Vatican Apostolic Archive is off-limits. The archives were created in 1612 when Pope Paul V ordered all Church records to be assembled in one place. The mysterious underground catacombs now contain 53 miles' worth of shelves and feature documents dating back thousands of years. Following the success of Angels & Demons, the Vatican opened the Archives to a handful of journalists to dispute what the film said. Now, only researchers with special permission can visit the Vatican Secret Archives.
THE DOOMSDAY VAULT, NORWAY
The Global Seed Vault, or Doomsday Vault, is home to over 100 million seeds from all over the world. The repository is located on the Norwegian island of Svalbard and exists in case Mother Nature or humans ever wipe out the plant kingdom by war, disease, or natural disaster. Speaking of which, the vault sits on high ground to counteract rising sea levels. Should the earth experience a global catastrophe, the Norwegians will save us all by reintroducing extinct flora and food crops. Takk skal du ha, or thank you, Norway!
CHURCH OF OUR LADY MARY OF ZION, ETHIOPIA
While Indiana Jones found the Ark of the Covenant buried in Egypt, many believe the Ark and its Ten Commandments lie within the 4th-century Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Ethiopia. No one is allowed inside, and only one elderly appointed guardian monk (chosen by the predecessor) can view the Ark. Legend says Crown Prince Menelik I visited his father, King Solomon, in Jerusalem and brought Moses' stone tablets back to Ethiopia. Some believe the Ark's power derives from the wrath of God, with blazing fire and blinding lights that can part seas and wipe out armies. Some say it's a radioactive meteorite, and the elderly guardian monks are rumored to have cataracts caused by the radiation.
AREA 51, NEVADA
Area 51 is one of the most forbidden places on the planet. The United States Air Force base and testing ground lies in Nevada, and very little is known about it. It's undoubtedly a testing ground for top-secret, black-book military aircraft, which would explain why so many people have seen UFOs in the area. But rumors persist that the base contains crashed UFOs and aliens. Whatever Area 51 contains, the signs warning of lethal force are enough to keep most people away.
PRAVČICKÁ BRÁNA, CZECH REPUBLIC
Pravčická Brána is a beautiful natural rock formation that, over hundreds of thousands of years, has formed a picturesque archway. Lying in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, it's one of Czechia's most scenic and well-known attractions. You used to be able to walk across the natural bridge. However, in 1982, the authorities forbade visitors from climbing on the natural sandstone archway as it was being eroded and could collapse at any moment. The public ban has stopped fears of a collapse. Pravčická Brána is just as stunning when viewed from nearby with a lovely picnic.
SURTSEY ISLAND, ICELAND
Imagine waking up one morning and seeing a new island being born! That's exactly what happened in Iceland on November 14th, 1963. You see, the Land of Fire and Ice sits on the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. The Icelandic people named the new volcanic island, Surtsey, after Surtr from Norse mythology. You might recognize him as the Satan-like demon who destroyed Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok. The government only allows botanists, biologists, geologists, and vulcanologists onto the UNESCO World Heritage site so they can study the ecosystem without interference from pesky humans.
BOHEMIAN GROVE, CALIFORNIA
Bohemian Grove is a campground in Monte-Rio, California. Every July, an "exclusive gentleman's club" called the Bohemian Club meets for a top-secret two-week retreat. Members of the Bohemian Club include presidents, prime ministers, high-ranking government officials, and business leaders. No one knows what strange things occur, but rumors persist of black magic, giant ceremonial bonfires, and men in robes worshiping giant owl shrines. Some say Bohemian Grove is an overgrown frat party, while others are certain it's a powerful, shadowy cult. Whichever way, if your name's not down, you're not getting in!
PLUTO'S GATE, TURKEY
The Ploutonion, or Pluto's Gate, lies in Hierapolis, Turkey, and dates back to ancient times. An ancient Greek legend said that no one could survive a visit to the gate belonging to Hades or Pluto, the God of the Underworld. When people sent sparrows in, they never flew out. In 1965, scientists confirmed extremely high carbon dioxide levels at the site. It's thought a seismic fault opened up a chamber of deadly gases. One theory says the Oracle of Delphi saw her visions after inhaling similar gases.
WOOMERA TEST RANGE, AUSTRALIA
The Royal Australian Air Force's Woomera Test Range is named after a First Nations word for a wooden spear-throwing device. The military test area lies north of Adelaide in South Australia and occupies 47,177 square miles, a space as big as the entire countries of Denmark or Estonia! The country-sized base is 100% off-limits to the public because it is a long-range missile testing ground. So, if you're hiking, wander off course at your peril!
CHICHEN ITZA PYRAMID, MEXICO
Millions of tourists visit the Chichen Itza Pyramid every year. You used to be allowed to climb to the top of the El Castillo or Temple of Kukulcan, but after a tragic accident in 2008, authorities closed the 80-foot ancient Mayan step pyramid to the public. It was built by the Maya civilization a thousand years ago. The incredible archeo-astrological site served as a temple to the Yucatec Maya Feathered Serpent deity Kukulcán, known as Quetzalcoatl to the Aztecs.
CHERNOBYL EXCLUSION ZONE, UKRAINE
In April 1986, Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant's number four reactor exploded, sending plumes of radioactive clouds into the air. The workers' town of Pripyat was evacuated, but it was too late. Radioactivity spread across eastern Europe and was detected as far away as Sweden and the UK. Two hundred thousand people were involved in the clean-up operation while the reactor was encased in concrete and later covered. Now, there is a 1,000 square mile (2,600 square km) exclusion zone around Chernobyl's ghost town, which will be uninhabitable for the next 20,000 years. For more info, watch HBO's incredible mini-series Chernobyl, and read all about it here.
SNAKE ISLAND, BRAZIL
While Saint Patrick banished snakes from Ireland, Brazil's Snake Island has the opposite problem. Ilha Da Queimada Grande lies about 20 miles from Sao Paulo state and is home to the most snakes anywhere in the world. They wriggled there during the last ice age, when the island was still connected to the mainland, and never stopped reproducing. Some estimates say 430,000 snakes live on the 106-acre island, one for every square meter. You know what Samuel L. Jackson would say: "Get these motherf***ing snakes off this motherf***ing island."
NORTH BROTHER ISLAND, NEW YORK
North and South Brother Islands are small islands in New York City's East River between the Bronx and Rikers Island. In 1904, the General Slocum steamship sank nearby, and some passengers took refuge on North Brother Island, including a woman called Mary Mallon. Mary was the first US patient to have typhoid; she infected 50 other people, three of whom succumbed to the fever. She became known as Typhoid Mary. The island became a hospital for folk with contagious diseases but is now abandoned.
MORMON CHURCH SECRET VAULT, UTAH
Carved into the side of the Granite Mountains in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah, lies the Mormon Church Secret Vault. The military-style vault was built in 1965 to hold vital church records called the Rosetta Project. The Granite Mountain Records Vault now holds more than 3.6 billion images, microfilms, and digital media specializing in family records. No one is allowed in without special permission. So why are the Church of Latter-day Saints storing so much information on genealogy, and what do they know that we don't?
MEZHGORYE, RUSSIA
Mezhgorye sits in the Republic of Bashkortostan in Russia's Ural Mountains. And it's a complete mystery. Some call it Russia's Area 51. Founded in 1979 and also known as Beloretsk 16, it's a top-secret town surrounded by military outposts under Mount Yamantaw. Some say Mezhgorye is a nuclear missile site, while the Kremlin claims the site is a bunker for Russian leaders in the event of nuclear war. Either way, if you rock up to the secret town, at best, guards will turn you away, and at worst, they'll shoot you!
FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY
Fort Knox is the name we conflate with the United States Bullion Depository, but the fort is the US Army installation next door. Either way, this Kentucky stash is one of the most heavily guarded places on the planet, as it houses most of the country's gold reserves. The gold vault is contained within a concrete-lined granite, reinforced steel building, and multiple combination locks. In the James Bond film, Goldfinger (1964), 007 and Pussy Galore stop Auric Goldfinger from stealing Fort Knox's gold reserves.
POVEGLIA, ITALY
Poveglia is a small island in the Venetian Lagoon between Venice and Lido in Northern Italy. In the 1700's people suffering from bubonic plague were sent here to die. In the 1900s, Poveglia became an asylum for the mentally ill, and rumors abound that doctors carried out illegal experiments on the patients. Today, the island is deserted, mainly because it's a hotbed for paranormal activity. Some say it's the most haunted place in Italy. Anyone up for some ghostbusting?
PINE GAP. AUSTRALIA
Tucked away in the Australian Outback, there lies a top-secret military base known as Pine Gap. The joint US-Australian defense facility is a satellite surveillance base just southwest of the town of Alice Springs, slap bang in the middle of Australia. Built during the Cold War, Pine Gap controls satellites that collect information about global airstrikes. Only its 800 employees and government officials are allowed to enter the heavily protected area, but you can check out the Pine Gap series on Netflix.
THE DOME OF THE ROCK, JERUSALEM
The Dome of the Rock is not just an Islamic shrine at the center of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque; it's one of the holiest sites for all the Abrahamic religions. Located within the Temple Mount, the golden-topped dome dates back to the first century and dominates the Jerusalem skyline. However, not everyone is allowed inside. Non-Muslim visitors cannot enter the building, but they can get a close look from the Temple Mount. And let's face facts: it's impressive enough from the outside.
U.N. BUFFER ZONE, CYPRUS
Everybody's heard of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, which separates North and South Korea on a line roughly equivalent to the 38th Parallel. But did you know that in 1964, during the civil war between the Turkish and Greek residents of Cyprus, the United Nations created a "Buffer Zone" or Attila Line to separate the Greek and Turkish peoples? After they agreed on a ceasefire, only a few thousand farmers were granted permission to live in villages within the zone. This no-man's land of barbed-wire fences, concrete walls, watchtowers, anti-tank ditches, and minefields became a ghost town where everything was frozen in time. Today, Cyprus' Buffer Zone is the last divided capital in Europe.
MORGAN ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA
Morgan Island is also known as Monkey Island, as it is home to a monkey colony. After a 1979 outbreak of herpes among monkeys in Puerto Rico, 4,000 rhesus monkeys were relocated to this uninhabited island in South Carolina. For the monkeys' safety, human beings are prohibited from visiting, and only monkey researchers are allowed to set foot on Morgan Island. That means humans who research monkeys, not actual monkeys who have jobs as scientific researchers. That would be daft. And while we're on the subject, there already is a type of monkey called a spider monkey... they do not need to be bitten by a radioactive spider.
MOSCOW METRO-2, RUSSIA
Metro-2 is Moscow's secret underground metro system that parallels the city's public metro but without the beautiful Art Deco touches. It was built in case of a nuclear disaster during the time of the KGB and lies 600 feet underground. The train lines connect government buildings like The Kremlin to secret service headquarters and the airport. The FSB, the modern name for the KGB, will neither confirm nor deny its existence. In 1994, the Diggers of the Underground Planet urban exploration group claimed they had found an entrance to Metro-2.
MOUNT WEATHER EMERGENCY OPS CENTER, VIRGINIA
So, you know those underground nuclear bunkers in films like Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Greenland? They're not real, right? Well, they exist, and Mount Weather Emergency Center is the safest place to be when the machines take over and the bombs drop. This bunker in Virginia was built during the Cold War to protect government officials and the USA's national treasures. Unless people need to take shelter, the building is entirely off-limits to everyone except the military, politicians, and FEMA employees. Some say it's the USA's last hope in case of emergency.
ROYAL AIR FORCE MENWITH HILL, UK
Royal Air Force Menwith Hill is an RAF station near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. It was initially used for intelligence gathering and espionage during the Cold War. Today, the 550-acre facility is the largest electronic monitoring station in the world. It acts as a communications intercept and missile warning site and is home to the ECHELON surveillance program. Despite various attempts to determine the purpose of those eerie radar domes or radomes, the public has no clue what happens at Menwith Hill.
COCA-COLA RECIPE VAULT, ATLANTA
The Coca-Cola recipe is one of America's biggest secrets. In 2011, the world's most famous drinks company placed the closely guarded recipe inside a vault on the grounds of the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. You can visit the vault, but good luck trying to get inside. You'd need to make it past the armed guards, the hand scanner, and the tricky combination lock. Even then, who's to say the Coca-Cola recipe is really inside? Only one way to find out, hey?
ROOM 39, NORTH KOREA
Pyongyang's Room 39 is one of the most secretive places on earth. Some believe it houses a secretive North Korean party organization that brings in a foreign currency slush fund of between $500 million and $1 billion per year for the country's leaders. So, how do they do this? The word on the street is that all sorts of illegal activities go on, from counterfeiting $100 bills to producing illegal substances and global insurance scams. If you make it into North Korea and Room 39, you won't make it out alive!
DULCE BASE, COLORADO
If you thought Area 51 was nuts, conspiracy theorists believe Dulce Base under the Archuleta Mesa mountains on the Colorado–New Mexico border is home to an underground facility jointly operated by humans and gray aliens. The two species carry out experiments on hybrid human aliens. The outlandish rumors surfaced in 1979 when Albuquerque businessman Paul Bennewitz intercepted electronic communications from an alien spacecraft. No one's found the secret entrance, but Dulce residents have reported UFOs, strange moving lights, and other unexplained sightings.
NORTH SENTINEL ISLAND, INDIAN OCEAN
North Sentinel Island is the most forbidden place in the world. Lying in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean, its indigenous people still use bows and arrows, and utterly reject the outside world. The Indian Navy prohibits travel within five miles, so the island is untouched by civilization. After the 2004 tsunami, the Indian Coast Guard flew over to assess the damage, but the native Sentinelese tribespeople shot arrows at their helicopter.
In 2006, islanders killed two fishermen whose boat had drifted ashore, and in 2018, a missionary tried to make contact and didn't make it out alive. While some of the places on this list might be a lot of fun, do not go to North Sentinel Island because THE ISLANDERS WILL KILL YOU!
THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS SIGN
Originally reading HOLLYWOODLAND, the infamous, iconic sign has proudly stood above Los Angeles since 1923. The site has seen a lot of action: Proto-hippie musician Eden Ahbez lived under the sign in the 1950s, and in 1992, heavy metal band Love/Hate's lead singer, Jizzy Pearl, mock-crucified himself on the 'Y'. But Jizzy got stuck, and needed to be rescued by fire crews, before being arrested for trespassing by the cops.
Millions must have illegally climbed the mountain over the last century, and thousands must have made whoopee under the sign. But when this writer and his girlfriend were having a little more than a kiss and a cuddle, under the famous letters, we were interrupted by a police helicopter swooping over the peak, accompanied by the words: "Citizens! Get off the mountain!" booming over the noise of the rotor blades via a tannoy.
The LAPD Air Support Division's chopper chased us down, and it wasn't some rinky-dinky news chopper; silhouetted against the Californian sun, it looked like fucking Airwolf! It took half an hour to climb the Hollywood Hills (they ain't hills, that's a mountain!), and four minutes to sprint down. Thanks to me going full Jason Bourne mode, we successfully evaded the armed SWAT chopper, the cops, the patrol cars, and police dogs waiting for us at the bottom. Best. Hike. Ever.