Drains were the first type of location I was interested in. Abandoned buildings can have surprises in them for sure, and you can get lost in some of them, but essentially everyone who drives by is at least a little aware that there's a big building over there, and its size can usually be seen from the outside. Tunnels on the other hand, are mostly unknown to the average person who walks around day in and day out above them, and unless you have been doing a bit of map research, their extent is unknown. What really drew me to exploring back in high school was the sort of "holy shit, this could go anywhere!" that comes from looking at a huge old tunnel disappearing into a bluff. A lot of the most rewarding explores I've ever had were exploring tunnels that I didn't have maps for and that I didn't know anyone who had been to them before. True exploring.

Posted by chuck_ingalls what is rcp.

Reinforced Concrete Pipe.

Posted by A Through Z Explorations We were very unprepared, and we ended up walking about 2 miles in complete darkness,

I think we zeroed in on the problem right here. You could have been walking through Narnia for all you know, but without a flashlight you miss all the cool stuff!

Drains have waterfalls...


Drains have brick...


Drains have treasure...


Really, Relux managed in his reply to highlight some of my all time favorite things about drains. Except the turtle. That turtle can go screw himself!

*All photos by NotBatman.

RE: xREDx:
Possibly... You are on to something.

RE: Yeya:
I know a place in the nawf side of da H, homie.
Are you in? This time around I am a grownup and am very well prepared
(leaving the C4 at home this time).

Posted by A Through Z Explorations Apparently this is a great find

Yea I didn't find this particular spot to be all that great either. That's why the OP said not much to see. No worries at all. You are very tactful and choose your words wisely. I appreciate that. I think what the local guys were saying was great about the find was not necessarily this, but that I was on to something. As they clued me in, I found out that I was very near a better one and didn't even know it. I've never really explored drains except for real basic small-town stuff back in the day. For me what's interesting about them is 1. What everyone else replied with. They described my curiosity when I didn't know how. And, 2. Why are they there? What purpose do they serve? Are they rerouting a natural water source? Has a natural water source been built right over the top of? Or is it just people's shit down there? New York drainage specifically fascinates me. Although, I've never been, I read that the island was wooded natural area at one point. Obviously the land didn't come with the skyscrapers. Streams and rivers flowed uninhibited. As the city grew waterways were forced to change paths or covered up and built on. Some of NYCs drainage has potentially only been seen by a handful of people in almost a couple hundred years.