Urban Exploration is an illegal hobby; we’re often going where we aren’t supposed to and taking photos along the way. Public perception is very important to the hobby. We don’t want to be perceived as vandals or burglars, nor do we want to profit from Urban Exploring. To explore ethically means that the hobby will be safe for future generations.

We follow basic golden rule of Urban Exploring:

“Take only photos, leave only footprints.”

Always stop to think about whether what you’re doing is hurting the hobby, the public, or the folks who still own these places. If it is:

Please don’t do it.

The smallest disturbance on a mountain slope can cause an avalanche. Mistakes can compound to create bigger problems that most of us can’t fathom until the consequences come into view.

We all make mistakes. I’ve made a sizeable few. Accountability is important in this hobby and in my experience, people are much more empathetic to those who make mistakes and recognize them. Even more so when you try your best to fix what was done.

Exploring should be a positive force in our greater communities. Tasteful graffiti art on a boring concrete drain structure can really change public perception on graffiti. I remember seeing Facebook threads floating around about some cube shaped stormwater structures someone painted into dice; everyone loved it because it gave character to something bored and mundane.

Exploring can have the same image if we all try at it. Explorers who research, document, and share the resources that they saved with the greater community makes Urban Exploring a more noble hobby.

Yes, this hobby is technically “illegal”.

But that is no excuse to act like animals. This hobby is a game of respect. If a property owner or the police hear the words “Urban Explorer” and immediately think “vandal” or “burglar”, rather than “some nerd with a camera”, that’s a problem for us.

If you think Urban Exploring is about breaking doors down with a 5 foot crowbar like you’re the Kool-Aid man, you’re wrong.

At its core, this hobby is about trespassing. Just because you’re already breaking the law, doesn’t mean that you should escalate things and make it worse.

Breaking into a business that closed its doors yesterday is not exploring. That is breaking and entering.

Remember that life is long. Patience is a virtue. Spots that I could’ve crowbarred years ago just because I could eventually became doable with extremely low risk. A lot of spots aren’t meant to be. You might watch something slowly die for 5 years just for it to be torn down or sold and renovated at the snap of a finger.

You should never feel that you’re missing out. Potential spots come and go; Smash and Grab Exploring should never be the answer.

I’ve heard some “Explorers” argue that “someone has to make the first move” or “someone has to do the dirty work”. That’s not always the case. Urban Exploring often exploits the largest weakness in any security system: human error.

Some of my best explores were because someone accidentally left a door ajar or unlocked. Persistence and skill prevail over all other methods because they’re sustainable.

What do you think would be noticed by a property owner first?

An Explorer who decoded the lock, or the Explorer who cut the lock off?

There is nothing wrong with rigging or setting something up so its still secure but easier to access. But again, that requires patience.

It may be tempting to crowbar something in for that sweet dopamine hit of getting to see a spot, but being patient often gives us a larger dopamine hit.