What visiting Centralia’s graffiti highway was actually like (before it was covered)

I don’t consider myself to be a person with many vices, but urban exploration has always been a fun pastime for me, and as someone who has spent most of their life in Pennsylvania, I never experienced a shortage of such places waiting to be dusted off and uncovered.

I was looking back on some of my old photos today for a completely unrelated blog post when I came across pictures that my boyfriend took of me at Centralia’s infamous graffiti highway a couple of years ago (only a few months before the entire road was covered in dirt to deter people — not so much unlike me — from visiting).

While you may be wondering why anyone in their right mind would want to visit a ghost town with unstable ground and an undying underground mine fire still burning (I’ll spare you the fine details as I assume you clicked the title knowing already what Centralia is), I can’t speak for everyone but I believe part of the reason is perhaps that a lot of people, myself included, have had this idea that Centralia is an eerie fog-covered town with lord knows what kind of creatures lurking about (thanks, Silent Hill). Or perhaps, maybe it was the thrill of getting caught and fined for trespassing that made some daredevils venture in.

Whatever the reason, the truth of the matter is that there’s really not much there, and there hasn’t been for a long time — and that’s true moreso now than ever.

The last and perhaps most outstanding feature was the graffiti highway, which is, as stated above, now covered in dirt — leaving nothing more than a couple of habited homes here and there in the town itself. Really, there’s nothing to see, and a visit today for most folks would be undoubtedly disappointing.

That said, I cannot attest to what goes on there now but I would find it incredibly hard to believe that covering it in dirt has deterred everyone. The urban explorers and teenage artists who knew no bounds (seriously, nothing here was safe from spray paint), perhaps yes. The people using the uneven road as a off-road racetrack? Probably not so much.

Anyone who has been to the highway on a nice day summer can tell you about dodging dirtbikes, quads and Jeeps flying past, and I can’t imagine unless the police presence has picked up, this has stopped — rather, it’s probably gotten worse as let’s be honest, dirt makes for a great medium for jumps.

As for the insanely large crowds that showed up to go for an unusual romantic stroll down memory lane, I think that’s at least lessened drastically. It wasn’t always crowded, though. If you went early or on a cold day, you very well may have had the surprisingly long, cracking, and colorful roadway all to yourself.

And if you were really lucky, you might have seen some smoke seeping up from the ground below.

Thankfully, I’ve had both experiences — and both were equally as attractive in their own way. In some ways, the quiet eerieness of being alone in a town that inspired an entire horror franchise was almost liberating, whereas on my latter and most recent visit it felt like an underground party full of excitement, good company, and of course, the smell of spray paint and gasoline.