Disclaimer: this is on private property.
Many of us have seen a film where the main character(s) finds themselves in a dark, creepy abandoned building that seems to have no way of escape. The last weekend of winter break, I had the opportunity to experience a similar feeling.
A group of eight of us set out to explore an abandoned underground missile silo near Deer Trail, Colorado. This missile silo is just one of six Titan 1 missile silos in Colorado that once housed 98-foot-long, ballistic, intercontinental missiles that had nuclear capabilities. Since 1965, all of these silos have been evacuated along with their missiles.
The road leading up to the entrance was so covered with snow that we had to park our vehicles and walk nearly a mile to the gate. Upon our arrival we were greeted by a sign that read “DEATH AWAITS” (not exactly the warmest of greetings). We took our last glimpses of daylight and prepared for our journey into the darkness.
Fifty feet into the silo, you couldn’t see your hand an inch from your face without a flashlight. Strange colored rust covered practically everything inside. Many of the tunnels we ventured into were some hundred feet long and nearly every spot on every wall was plastered with colorful graffiti. Metal hung from the ceilings and many of them were completely caved in. This multi-level silo was an incredible thing to explore, but I don’t recommend going alone.
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This is the entrance to Titan 1 Missile Silo Complex 2B. Numerous disposable respirators can be seen hanging from the metal entryway. Photo by Dalton McMillan
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Upon getting to the lower level of the silo is this door. Behind this door lies a series of tunnels and the sites where the missiles were originally stored. Photo by Dalton McMillan
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These spray painted black figures with red eyes were all over the walls. At this point, myself and one other person had managed to accidentally separate ourselves from the group. We could hear our friends in the distance but didn’t know which hallway to go down. We ended finding them a few minutes later. Photo by Dalton McMillan
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At first sight, these tunnels seemed endless in the pitch black. Most of them were only at most a hundred feet long. In this tunnel we found an old mattress, proof that someone had lived there before. Photo by Dalton McMillan
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Almost every room down there, had disheartening phrases spray painted on the walls like “you’re never getting out of here alive.” After being there for a few minutes, you got used to it. Photo by Dalton McMillan
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In order to make your way around down there, we had to cross some treacherous terrain. Beneath the metal platforms was several feet of water and ice. In this same area, we found a yellow raft that was frozen to the ice. Photo by Dalton McMillan
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The combination of different colored rust, metal, and spray paint made each room very distinct. Photo by Dalton McMillan
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For more information on these silos, please visit the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.