This location was my very first URBEX outing. I knew nothing more than the location, hopping in the car with my friend and driving out, far over prepared.
My first stumbling block of course is that the control site is located right alongside the primary road in and out of the military zone. In addition to that, there's no place to park your car out of sight unless you wish to drive around to the backside and make your way to the control site through about half a mile of thick woods. All that being said...I truly believe that no one with any authority would tell you to leave the premises of this particular site for any reason but your own safety for fears of asbestos.
We parked the car and hopped out making our way to the first radar tower, which appeared to have no way onto, even with climbing rope or equipment (though I'm certain there is a way to do so).
1.
We then made our way into the main structure where the barracks, radar equipment, and control van would've been located. It was evident from this building that the location is well known to teens and other destructive types. Graffiti litters the walls, cans of beer are scattered on the floors, and it appears as if there was a bonfire in the garage bay fairly recently. This building is largely uninteresting as all equipment has been removed so that all that remains is the shell of the building.
2.
We then began to approach the 2nd radar tower, which could be entered with climbing rope, though we had none on us at the time to attempt the feat.
3.
Just up in the woods past the 2nd tower is the 3rd and final radar tower. Inside of the tower was a ladder which appeared to have been placed somewhat recently. It is somewhat rickety, but with someone holding the ladder it was able to support at least 170 lbs. However there is no guarantee this ladder will still be there when you visit, in which case climbing rope can be firmly secured at the top of the shaft.
4.
The view provided from on top of the radar tower is impressive under non-foggy conditions as I learned on a return trip, however the fog does give a certain mystery to the place.
5.
The window above the stairwell up.
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The empty fusebox inside the third radar tower.
7.
It appeared as if the "pac-man" hood on the radar tower was at one point able to slide open and closed, though that time is long gone. The shell/hood itself is sturdy enough to stand on as well and was an amazing place to sit and take in the site.
After that we returned to the car to realize we didn't have cell service and thus were unable to navigate our way out to the launch site as I hadn't studied the map closely enough before beginning my drive out to the site. We returned home.
A few days later I returned back to the site with my original friend and another new friend, heading out to the launch site. On our way up to the launch site we drove past a Military Police vehicle, but they didn't seem to pay us any attention fortunately. Driving up to the site means driving directly towards a semi-active military training station. I'm unsure of how often this location is used. When driving up to its gates the station was in obvious use and had several vehicles parked outside, though I doubt anyone was there. We took the left down into the woods towards the launch station. For this segment of the drive I had to turn on 4-wheel drive as the road was a little torn up by recent rainstorms.
8.
The launch site was in much greater disrepair than the control site and had an extremely musty smell as water dripped through the roof in large quantities. Despite this, the launch site contained no graffiti, probably as it wasn't able to be seen from the main road.
9.
The room we entered through. It should be noted however that no two rooms in this building are joined, all can only be entered through an external doorway.
10.
Here you can see the extreme water damage in the largest room
11.
The same room from the opposite angle
12.
The roof appeared very weak in this room, however two of us were able to stand in the roof on the edges without issue or fear of collapse.
13.
We were able to make our way onto the first, shorter roof by using trees on the side of the building and an exterior pipe which was well secured and extremely sturdy. The second roof my friend was able to make it onto by me boosting him, however I was able to make it just by jumping and grabbing the ledge and pulling myself up.
Though these sites may have been empty and fairly small, they were an excellent introduction into Urbex for my friends and I. We definitely look forwards to making our way out to Pac-Man's demise in the near future.
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