Beautiful Places That Are Too Dangerous To Visit

Let's go sightseeing in some of our planet’s most inhospitable vacation spots, as we explore some of the world’s most beautiful places that are too dangerous to visit!

Bolton Strid

The world is full of raging seas and wide rivers, so you might be surprised to learn that one of the most dangerous bodies of water on Earth is an innocent looking stream in old Yorkshire, England. The Bolton Strid is a 65-mile stretch of the wider River Wharfe that looks like a calm stream on the surface. But what’s bubbling underneath is a different story.

This stream has a 100% fatality rate if you fall in, and there’s no barriers to protect you from its deadly waters! But why’s it so dangerous? The Strid is surprisingly deep at 213ft, which is roughly the length of 5 buses stacked end-to-end! Furthermore, while the river is just 6ft wide at the surface, its sides are filled with lots of deep underwater caves and tunnels that you can’t see from dry land.

Finally, as hundreds of gallons of water from the wider parts of the River Wharfe are forced through the narrow Strid, it creates a strong current that will instantly swallow a swimmer up, and pin them inside the underwater caverns.

If a visitor tries to jump across the seemingly calm, narrow stream, they could easily slip on the wet stones. Then when they fall in, they’ll never climb out again, because nobody has survived a dip in the Strid, and sadly a lot of the time their remains stay trapped in the caves and never resurface at all.

Snake Island

Picture the most terrifying animal you can think of. Now imagine being surrounded by thousands of these creatures on a remote island with absolutely no chance of escape. For those of you with snake phobias, this can become a reality at Ilha da Queimada Grande, a beautiful Brazilian island that’s filled with thousands of deadly serpents.

The terrifying inhabitants are specifically golden lanceheads, an exceptionally dangerous species of pit-viper that exclusively lives on the island. The lancehead genus contains 48-species of snakes that cause 90% of all snakebite fatalities in Brazil, and the golden lancehead’s venom is so potent it can cause kidney-failure, internal bleeding and melt your flesh!

Researchers estimate that 2 to 4,000 of them are slithering around the island’s 43-hectares, and their bite can take a life in under an hour. So Brazil’s government made it illegal for civilians to visit the island in the 1920s! But if any of you troublemakers want to sail there anyway, there are some grisly stories from before the travel-ban to deter you.

Legend has it that a lighthouse operator used to live on the island, until one night he accidentally left his window open, and a bunch of vipers came slithering in. The operator, his wife and 3-children tried to run to a dock to flee the island by boat, but they were jumped by snakes hanging in the branches of a tree and succumbed to the bites. Whether this specific story is fact or fiction, this tropical island is incredibly deadly, and today, only researchers are allowed to visit it to study the snakes.

Oymyakon, The Coldest Town In The World

With pure white mountains and deer-pulled sleds, Oymyakon is a town in the Sakha region of Russia that feels like a real winter wonderland. But while it looks like the perfect place to spend the holidays, visiting it could easily cost you your life.

It’s regarded as the coldest town in the world, as winter temperatures average a spine-chilling -58 degrees Fahrenheit. Only 3 to 5 hours of daylight occur in winter, due to the town’s high latitude and the tilt of the Earth’s axis. So, it’s no surprise that only 500-people live there, and they have to constantly deal with temperatures that freeze their eyelashes and turn their saliva into icicles. In fact, the town’s children occasionally have days of home-schooling due to concerns that they’ll freeze if they go outside.

Oymyakon’s biggest claim to fame came in 1924, when it recorded the lowest temperature of an inhabited area in history; a lethal -96-degrees. But it’s not just Oymyakon throwing temperature tantrums. The entire Sakha region is consistently in the -40s during winter, and it really is deathly cold. In 2020, 2-teenagers were driving from the city of Yakutsk to Magadan when they got lost. Temperatures plummeted to -50 that night, and tragically, one of the boys actually froze inside their car.

K'gari Island

Nothing says luxury like drinking cocktails on a white, sandy beach, and the Australian island of K’gari seems to fit that bill perfectly. It boasts over 150-miles of stunning beaches as well as tropical rainforests. But before you book your flights, be warned: this beautiful island is completely covered with unpredictable and dangerous animals.

Firstly, venturing into the rainforest is a big no-no, as it’s home to one of the world’s most venomous species of spider, the K’gari funnel-web.

Its venom is reportedly 6-times more lethal than its more-common cousin, the Sydney funnel-web, and for context, the Sydney spider’s bite can be fatal in just 15-minutes. So, if you get bitten by one of these critters, you won’t even live long enough to find out if you’d develop superpowers, and the dangers don’t stop at land’s end.

You can encounter sharks at lots of beaches. But swimming and surfing at K’gari is downright discouraged, because its Great Whites and Bull sharks are known to hang around in the shallows, right by the beach. Even if you manage to dodge them, the water is also filled with tiny Irukandji jellyfish; one of the smallest and most venomous jellyfish in the world.

Its incredibly painful sting can be fatal if not treated with medical attention straight away. So on an island that has no lifeguards or hospitals, a dip in the ocean could cost you your life! Back on land, even the puppies on the island are deadly, because it’s filled with around 250 dingoes; a wild dog-like animal endemic to Australia. They can be particularly vicious, especially when provoked, so whatever you do don’t pet that dog!

Despite all this, the island is populated by around 1,500-people full-time, and it enjoys some healthy tourism. But in January 2024, 6-people were stung by the Irukandji in just 4-days, and there have been tons of cases of dingoes chasing down tourists and giving them nasty bites. So although K’gari looks like the dream vacation in the photos, you might want to stick to mainland Australia instead. Or skip the whole country!

Hindustan-Tibet Highway, The Death Road

If you travel to India, you’ll find a road that’s so dangerous, it can cause the world’s safest drivers to crash. The un-affectionately nicknamed death road has all the sheer drops and sharp turns of a Mario Kart track. But unlike Rainbow Road, you won’t be lifted back onto the path if you fall off.

Its official name is the Hindustan-Tibet Highway, and it stretches 300-miles from Ambala to Kaurik, near the Tibetan border. The route is surrounded with beautiful mountains and temples, but don’t get distracted by the view, because its twists and turns are no joke.

Its highest point is Shipki La Pass, which stands at 15,000ft above sea-level, and the road is bordered by sheer 1000-meter cliffs. To make matters worse, much of the road doesn’t have any railings or protection for your vehicle, and even when there are barriers, they don’t look very strong.

The highway was built around and blasted through the mountains, and the area is incredibly prone to landslides, meaning giant rocks could come crashing down on your car at any given time. Furthermore, buses run up some legs of the path, and if you meet one on your drive, you might have to reverse to give them room to pass, or you could both go tumbling to the ground below.

Half Dome

When vacation-planning, most of us tend to avoid traveling to places that are known for being dangerous. But some thrill-seekers actively choose to visit treacherous locations to take part in death-defying sports, like rock-climbing.

The sport involves scaling the world’s steepest cliffs, and most climbers use ropes and a harness to stop themselves from falling to the ground below. But if a wall is too big to climb in a single-day, the climbers will often camp by attaching hammocks or tents to the cliffside with metal bolts and ropes, before bedding down for the night.

One of the most popular American peaks to climb is the Half Dome; a rock-formation in Yosemite National Park that tops out nearly 5,000ft above the valley below. The face of the dome is a very famous climb, but, you don’t have to be a climber to ascend the rock, because 50,000 hikers turn up every year to reach its peak via a set of walkways and cables running up its smoother side.

Most know which route they’d choose, but surprisingly, hiking up the rock isn’t necessarily safer. You use the cables to pull yourself between 2X4 planks that act as steps. But the ascent is steep, reaching a 45-degree angle for the last 400ft. So, if you slip and fall out of the cable-section as you climb, it could easily be the last mistake you ever make.

From 2005 to 2020, there were 291-accidents and 140 search-and-rescue missions around the hike, with 25-hikers losing their lives on the walkways from slipping. In 1985 5-hikers were even struck by lightning during the ascent due to the half-dome’s high elevation! So, whether you’re hiking up its side or camping on its face, the half-dome is a pretty dangerous place to visit!

Skellig Michael

Star Wars fans might recognize the remote island below from the movies, but can you guess which scenes took place here?

If you’re picturing an aged Luke Skywalker teaching Rey about the force, then you’d be absolutely right, but this island sanctuary isn’t really in a galaxy far far away. Skellig Michael is a rocky outcrop 8-miles off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland, and although it’s famous for being featured in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, that’s not all it’s known for.

A 6th-century Christian monastery stands near the top of one of its peaks 750ft above the ocean, and to reach it you have to climb 600-rock steps, with very few hand-rails to help you. But it rains a lot in Ireland, so there’s a huge risk of slipping off the slick steps. In 2009, an American tourist fatally fell after losing his footing on the climb and falling to the rocks below. 5-months later, another tourist also passed after slipping on the same ledge, showing just how treacherous the hike can be.

Additionally, if you injure yourself during the climb, it’s extremely difficult to get help. The island has no medical service, drinking water or phone reception, leaving you pretty stranded. Furthermore, there’s no Jedi waiting at the summit to help you, so as much as you’d want to visit Luke’s hideaway, you'll need the force to overcome the 600-steps!

Tsingy De Bemaraha, The Forest Of Knives

The world is full of beautiful woodlands. But in Madagascar you’ll find a forest like no other because the entire thing is made out of rocks. Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park is a UNESCO world heritage site that’s filled with giant limestone spikes that are razor-sharp to the touch.

The stones can reach up to 330ft high, and they first sprang into being 200-million years ago, when the area was a lagoon with a limestone seabed. Later on, tectonic activity elevated the seabed and sea-levels fell, leaving the rock exposed. Over time, rain then eroded this limestone bed into columns, before wearing them down until they had sharp points.

Tsingy loosely translates to ‘where you cannot walk barefoot,’ because the weathered stone is so sharp that it can cut straight through skin and clothing. Researchers have described navigating through the stone-forest as ‘climbing amid giant skewers,’ and on one expedition a scientist briefly knelt down, which left him with a limestone spike in his knee and a 2-day trip back to the nearest hospital!

These razor-sharp obelisks are densely packed together, making a large area of the park inaccessible to humans. This also means that it’s full of undiscovered species, and every time a research team has ventured into the limestone, they’ve found an average of 5-new species of animal.

World's End Cliff

If you're terrified of heights, visiting ‘The World’s End Cliff’ in Sri Lanka would be your worst nightmare. This unprotected, 4000ft drop boasts beautiful views of the surrounding Horton Plains National Park, but it can be deadly when you’re distracted.

Getting to the top involves a 4-hour hike along a rocky path, which would leave anyone with wobbly legs. But no matter how tired you are, you have to watch your step, because one wrong move could leave you tumbling over the cliffside.

In 2015, Dutch tourist Mamitho Lendas actually tripped and fell off the cliff whilst taking pictures of his wife. He tumbled for 130ft, before getting tangled in some vegetation on the cliffside. The plants saved his life and left him with minor injuries, but unfortunately, others haven’t had Mamitho’s enormous luck. There have been several fatal accidents at the site, and in 2011 an Australian tourist called Christopher Plither tragically lost his life when he tripped and fell whilst trying to take a photo of the view.

Yellowstone Hot Springs

With its rainbow-colored hot springs and famous geysers, Yellowstone is one of the most beautiful National Parks in the USA. But looks can be deceiving, and America’s prettiest picnic spot is also one of its most dangerous tourist destinations, from its terrain to its wildlife.

In 2015, a woman and her daughter were visiting the park, when they decided to snap a selfie with a bison that was just 6-yards away. But as they turned their backs to the animal, it unexpectedly charged at them and tossed the mother into the air. Fortunately, she survived the attack and was treated for minor injuries, but she’s one of Yellowstone’s luckier victims.

The park’s famous springs aren’t to be messed with either, and although they look like delicious forbidden Mountain Dew, going for a brief dip can result in major injury or death. A tourist called Colin Scott found this out for himself in 2016, when his family went to Yellowstone to ‘hot pot,’ a practice that involves using thermal springs as natural hot-tubs.

There are hot-springs around the world that are suitable for swimming, like the blue lagoon in Iceland, and some of Yellowstone’s pools are cool enough for hot-potting. But the entire park sits atop an active volcano, so its magma-heated geysers are much hotter at around 200-degrees, and some of the springs in the hotter parts of the park have been known to reach 459-degrees.

Scott and his sister clearly weren’t aware, because they climbed over a protective barrier to enter the Norris Geyser Basin, and as Scott walked past a hot-spring, he slipped and fell into the 212-degree water.

His demise was instant, and by the time officials arrived to help, just a few parts of his head and torso were visible in the water. They couldn’t rescue his remains, and the extreme heat, coupled with the incredibly acidic nature of the spring, completely dissolved them by the following morning. All that was left was his wallet and flip-flops. But unfortunately, Scott isn’t a one-off and he joins a list of an estimated 22-people who have passed away in Yellowstone’s springs.

Alnwick Castle's Poison Garden

A walk around a park is a lovely way to spend an afternoon, and the gardens at Alnwick Castle in England seem like the perfect place for a picnic. But this park isn’t everything that it seems, because one of its sections will have you walking straight into a death-trap.

The Castle’s Poison Garden is one of the most dangerous places in the world, because it’s home to 100-different kinds of toxic plants. Touching or ingesting some of them can give you nasty stings or cost you your life, and its deadliest residents include hemlock, deadly nightshade and the castor oil plant. The latter is often considered the most poisonous common plant on the planet, as just two millionths of an ounce of the ricin toxin in its beans is enough to wipe out a human weighing 160lbs.

Enter the Deadliest Garden in the World by Great Big Story

So, how did this lethal garden come to be? It was officially opened in 2005 by the Duchess of Northumberland, Jane Percy, who owns the 12-acre grounds of Alnwick Castle. She opened it to educate people on toxic plants and teach them how they cause death, which is a worthy cause. But most of these plants are grown completely out in the open, allowing any curious child or dumb adult to reach out, grab them, and receive a sting or potentially lose their life!

Cave Of The Crystals

In the comics and movies, Superman’s secret headquarters is a giant crystal-palace called the Fortress of Solitude. But whilst this set-up is a product of movie-magic, I was pretty shocked to discover that a real-life crystal fortress actually exists about 1,000ft beneath a mountain in Chihuahua, Mexico.

The appropriately named Cave of the Crystals was discovered by miners looking for ore deposits back in 2000. When they broke through the wall of the cavern, they stumbled upon a space that looked just like Superman’s digs, with crystals that were up to 3ft wide and 40ft in length.

Crystals are formed when atoms or molecules in a liquid bond together in a repeating lattice pattern. If the temperature drops and the liquid cools, the pattern is locked into place, creating a solid structure. Researchers have discovered that around 26-million years ago magma pushed through a fault line in the earth’s crust, causing the rock above it to bulge upwards and form the Sierra De Naica Mountain. This allowed mineral-rich waters to seep into a cavern in the newly-formed mountain, and over time, they cooled and their molecules solidified, forming into giant crystals over a span of around 1-million years.

This created the beautiful cave, but unfortunately, it’s far too dangerous to visit. Firstly, it still sits over an underground magma chamber, so its interior is 122-degrees, with a humidity level of 90%. In this insufferable humidity, sweat has no cooling effect, so humans can only stay inside for 10-minutes before passing out and passing away from overheating.

Furthermore, the air is so humid that when you inhale, it will condensate and turn to water inside your lungs, slowly causing you to drown! As a result, the cavern can’t be visited by tourists, and scientists who study it have to wear special refrigerated suits with breathing-respirators.

Even then, the amount of condensation in the cave makes the surfaces extremely slippery, so they need to tread lightly to avoid tumbling onto the sharp crystal surface! So ultimately, you can’t visit the cave unless you become a researcher, and even then, you’ll never be allowed to enter in your favorite superman costume.

Danakil Depression

If you’ve ever dreamed of taking off in a spaceship and visiting another planet, you might not have to travel so far after all. We have our own extraterrestrial landscape right here on Earth, and it’s called the Danakil Depression. This vibrant wonderland stretches for 3,800-square-miles across Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti, and its unique terrain is stunning.

But don’t make plans to visit, because it’s one of the most inhospitable places on the planet. The depression is one of the lowest places in the world at 330ft below sea-level, and parts of it stand over magma flowing just under the surface. This makes it one of the hottest places on Earth too, as its temperatures regularly soar between 95-130 degrees.

Furthermore, whilst the desert is easier to get to than deep-space, it’s full of acidic thermal springs that are as inhospitable as any alien-planet. The magma-heated water can reach over 200-degrees, and some of the pools have a pH level of 0.2, which makes them almost pure acid.

You definitely don’t want to fall in, but interestingly, these extraterrestrial hot-tubs are populated by aliens, because they’re the most acidic places on Earth in which life has been found. In 2017, scientists discovered that bacteria have adapted to live inside them, and they were so shocked at the discovery, that they’ve since used it as a guide to determine how life could develop on other planets like Mars!

Their vibrant-green coloration comes from the presence of copper-salts, but these aren’t Danakil’s only notable pools! Gaet’ale Pond isn’t as acidic, but it has a salinity content of 43%, making it the saltiest body of water on Earth.

The pool also sits above magma chambers which release carbon dioxide into the water through fractures in the ground. As a result, the pond emits huge amounts of CO2, and the bodies of insects and birds that have suffocated from the emissions are often scattered nearby. In fact, if a human came within 12-inches of its banks, they’d choke on CO2. So the waters of Danakil are so toxic that you can’t even approach them, let alone go for a dip!

Bikini Atoll

Bikini Atoll might sound like somewhere that SpongeBob and Patrick would hang out, but it’s actually a set of 23-islets in the Marshall Islands, that encircle a giant lagoon.

But as idyllic as it looks, this Pacific Ocean paradise is actually highly radioactive. See, the US army took over the Marshall Islands during WWII, and in 1946, Bikini Atoll became the location of an operation that tested nuclear bombs for two whole decades.

When the US army moved in the 166 indigenous residents were relocated to the nearby Rongerik Atoll, before being moved again to Kili island; an area 1/6th of the size of Bikini with barely any resources. Meanwhile the army settled in, and the first test took place on July 1st 1946, as a 20-kiloton nuclear-bomb was dropped onto the lagoon from a plane. From then on Bikini was the site of many nuclear firsts.

On July 25th, they triggered the world’s first underwater nuclear explosion, which turned the lagoon’s water radioactive and sunk eight empty ships. Then in 1954, one of the first American hydrogen bombs was dropped, and a miscalculation made it far more powerful than intended.

The resulting explosion yielded 15-megatons of power, making it 1,000-times stronger than the bomb dropped at Hiroshima and still the largest nuclear test in US history. In fact, three of Bikini’s islands were completely vaporized by the blast, and the nuclear fallout reached a Japanese fishing boat 80-miles away, giving the 23-men onboard radiation sickness and taking one life.

After 23-tests the operation finished, and the indigenous population was moved back in the late 1960s. But, the detonations had flooded the islets with radiation, and by 1978 the residents were evacuated again due to increasing rates of radiation sickness. They were sent back to Kili Island, and today around 400-people still live there, largely surviving on imported food.

The US has since tried to clean-up the atoll and allow resettlement. But the radiation level in the earth, groundwater and coconuts is still far too high to be considered safe. So, while the atoll actually is the namesake of SpongeBob’s Bikini Bottom, the real islets aren’t inhabited with pineapple houses, and for now, it looks like this tropical paradise might never have permanent residents ever again.

If you were amazed at these beautiful places that are too dangerous to visit, you might want to read about places you should never swim. Thanks for reading!