Has anybody been here? It's off Route 61 in the area of some coal mine fires.

http://www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/centralia.htm

That is some creepy stuff, the place is just a ghost town now. Might be a cool place to go wheeling if the gas won't kill you, but I have to imagine its toxic as hell there.

We've been talking about going there for awhile. Would love to check it out. It's actually only about forty-five minutes down the road from Paragon and about an hour from Rausch Creek!

Road trip?

I don't think it will bother you unless it was prolonged exposure. Some guys from a differnt board went and said it was really cool. Maybe I'll see if any of the NE people want to check it out.

Some friends and I might try to make it there sometime. I get some pics if we do.

The last I heard of this, the goverment put a fence around the area....So, where theres a will, theres a way!!!! Let us know when you go, I've been wanting to check this out for a long time.

I don't think there's a fence. I've seen many up to date pictures and there are people who still live in the town so I don't know if is needed.

There's a gentlemen on these boards (http://pub84.ezboard.com/bcentraliapa54196) who apparently still lives in Centralia and seems to be able to answer quite a few questions people have about the town. He goes by the handle coalcracker so maybe you could get up with him about whether they condone "tourists" or not.

Word to the wise, if the area is fenced off, it's probably not a good idea to try and get in there. The feds have had great interest in that area for decades and I'm sure they won't take too lightly to people being in restricted areas.

The site I saw said that Rt.61 was closed, but then was re-opened because a new road was made around the damaged area.

I was there like 7 or 8 years ago, g/f's family lived two towns over. It was weird and creepy. It had this smell to it, certain areas had smoke/steam rising from the ground, and it did sort of look like a ghost town. Abandoned row houses all kind of leaning over to one side, just vacant, some boarded up. I don't know if it is open or closed now, but it is worth seeing if you are near there.

I was there like 7 or 8 years ago, g/f's family lived two towns over. It was weird and creepy. It had this smell to it, certain areas had smoke/steam rising from the ground, and it did sort of look like a ghost town. Abandoned row houses all kind of leaning over to one side, just vacant, some boarded up. I don't know if it is open or closed now, but it is worth seeing if you are near there.

So, it was kinda like North Philly w/o the graffiti?

I was there last spring.

theres not much left, almost everything has burned down by now, and cleared away. No cool abandoned buildings if thats what youre looking for. There also arent any 'desolate, abandoned roads with halfburnt/burning houses'. Or atleast, we didnt fnid any in the 5 or so hours we were out there exploring.
Theres a couple fenced off areas. The ground smokes alot, and you can smell the sulfur in the air in places. The entrance to the mines collapsed, and is givnig off so much heat you cant get to it.
theres a part of 61 that was closed due to massive deformation of the road; they detoured around it, but its only about a 1/4 mile or so anyway.

I have some pics online, yall can check em out here (http://www.forensick.net/visual/gallery.php?imagedir=030510)

So, it was kinda like North Philly w/o the graffiti?
:histerica :histerica :histerica
thats whats I was thinking :histerica

if were to check it out stay away from any and all water holes, a guy i go to school with lives up by there said he was out there with a new f150 went through what he thought was a puddle about a foot or 2 deep well lets say he never got the truck back.

well i'm in, so when we goin? :thumbup

You can count me in also. :beer

The group I was going to go with has decided to do Western MD instead.

Centralia is actually just deserted fields right know, I live near it. The main road is closed due to some gapping cracks across it but there is a road that goes down around it. The fire is moving out of Centralia for the most part so it isn't as spectacular as it was 5-10 yrs. ago. It's still interesting but I wouldn't take a trip specifically for it unless it's close by to where you are going. An amusement park called Knobels Grove is near there, that would be a great summer meet area for us Pennsylvania guys and who ever would like to travel. Theres a camp ground and amusement park. It's also not too far from Bloomsburg.

An amusement park called Knobels Grove is near there, that would be a great summer meet area for us Pennsylvania guys and who ever would like to travel. Theres a camp ground and amusement park. It's also not too far from Bloomsburg.

Yep, been there several times.. nice place :thumbup

Theres a camp ground and amusement park. It's also not too far from Bloomsburg.


That's a cool little park, we took the kids there one year while we were at the Jambo. Planning on it this year too. Free admission :thumbup

they did a bit about the town on the daily show

prob about a year ago or so. funny shit as always.

Why not try to plan a little NE Chapter FSB meet and greet near there. We can check out Centralia one day and the park the next perhaps.

FYI, I'm heading to Centralia, then Paragon this weekend. Anybody is welcome to join us.

I have an Aikido seminar this weekend so I'm out. :shrug

Centralia was pretty cool. I'll upload some pics soon. Also, Bear Valley, which is very near Centralia, is good for some more wheelin', and has a great place to set up some tents for the night. It might be bad during misquito season though.

I didn't make it to Paragon though, my friend's Grand Cherokee's T-Case decided to break in half. We were 150 miles from home on a Sunday, so we spent the rest of the day getting it towed back. The GC is full time AWD, so we had to use a flatbed.

That sucks about the t-case and not being able to get to Paragon!

We were in Centralia today - it was cold, windy and snowy but it was a cool trip nontheless. Just a nice little (almost) deserted town. The wind was blowing hard so the smoke was really visible today. I'll get the pictures up soon as well.

Edit: Pictures are up now. You can find them here. (http://fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16545)

Okay. I finally got the pics uploaded.

Check out my summary here: http://fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?p=215010#post215010