Imagine driving for hours through a beige, featureless void. The Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan isn't exactly a hotspot for roadside attractions. It’s one of the driest places on Earth. Then, the sun dips. Suddenly, a strange, flickering orange glow starts bleeding over the horizon. It looks like a forest fire in a land with no trees. You get closer, and the ground literally opens up into a 230-foot-wide cauldron of fire that has been burning for decades. Locals call it the Gateway to Hell, and honestly, looking at it, the name feels less like hyperbole and more like a literal description.
But here is the thing: almost everything you’ve read online about how it started is probably wrong.
Most travel blogs and even some major news outlets will tell you a very specific, cinematic story. They say Soviet engineers were drilling for oil in 1971, the ground collapsed into a cavern, and fearing the release of poisonous methane gas, they tossed a match into the hole. They expected it to burn out in a few weeks. Fifty-odd years later, it’s still roaring. It’s a great story. It’s clean. It has a beginning, a middle, and a fiery "oops" at the end.
The problem? There’s almost no paper trail to prove the 1971 "match toss" ever happened.
The Mystery Behind the Fire
When Canadian explorer George Kourounis became the first person to descend to the bottom of the crater in 2013—decked out in a silver heat suit like some kind of volcano-dwelling astronaut—he tried to find the truth. He spoke to local Turkmen geologists. What he found was that nobody actually knows for sure when the fire started. Some evidence suggests the collapse happened in the 1960s and sat dormant for years before it was ignited. Others think the fire was a natural occurrence sparked by lightning or simply a deliberate burn-off that went sideways much later than 1971.
Turkmenistan was a closed-off Soviet Republic back then. Records were either never kept or are sitting in a dusty basement in Ashgabat or Moscow, classified and forgotten. We’re left with a giant, glowing hole in the ground that serves as a permanent monument to human error and geological unpredictability.
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The crater itself is officially named the Darvaza Gas Crater. It’s roughly 20 meters deep. The heat is intense. If you stand on the rim when the wind shifts, the blast of hot air and the smell of sulfur is enough to make your eyes water and your skin prickle. It’s not just one big flame; it’s hundreds of tiny fires licking out of the rock walls and the sandy floor.
Why Turkmenistan Has Tried to Put It Out
You’d think a massive, self-sustaining fire pit would be a tourism goldmine. For a while, it was. It’s easily the most famous thing in Turkmenistan. However, the government has a complicated relationship with its hellish landmark.
In 2010, the former president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov visited the site and ordered that it be closed or extinguished. He was worried it would sap the gas pressure from nearby drilling sites. Turkmenistan sits on the fourth-largest natural gas reserves in the world. To the government, that fire isn't a miracle; it’s a leak. It’s money literally going up in smoke.
Then, in 2022, he ordered it again. He cited environmental damage and health concerns for the people living in the nearby village of Darvaza. But putting out a fire this big is a nightmare. You can’t just dump water on it. It’s a massive pocket of pressurized methane. Experts have suggested everything from "capping" it with a giant concrete lid to drilling "relief wells" to suck the gas out from underneath it. So far? Nothing has worked. The fire keeps dancing.
Surviving a Trip to the Edge
If you actually want to see the Gateway to Hell, you have to work for it. Turkmenistan is notoriously difficult to enter. It’s often compared to North Korea in terms of visa restrictions and government surveillance. You usually need a Letter of Invitation (LOI) and a mandatory guide.
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Once you’re in, the journey to Darvaza is a bumpy, bone-shaking ride in a 4x4. There are no luxury hotels out here. Most travelers camp in yurts nearby.
- The Night View: This is the only way to see it. During the day, it looks like a dusty construction accident. At night, it’s primal.
- The Silence: Aside from the low roar of the gas, the desert is eerily quiet.
- The Village: The old village of Darvaza was actually leveled by the government years ago, but a few residents still live nearby in semi-nomadic conditions.
Something people don't realize until they're standing there is the sheer scale of the waste. We talk a lot about carbon footprints, but here is a hole in the earth that has been pumping CO2 and heat into the atmosphere 24/7 for half a century. It’s a beautiful disaster.
Life at the Bottom?
One of the coolest things George Kourounis discovered during his National Geographic-funded descent was life.
It sounds impossible. The center of the crater is a kiln. Yet, in the soil samples he pulled from the bottom, scientists found extremophile bacteria. These organisms weren't just surviving; they were thriving in a high-temperature, methane-rich environment that doesn't exist anywhere else on the surface of the planet. These bacteria aren't found in the surrounding desert soil.
This discovery actually has massive implications for space travel. If life can thrive at the bottom of the Gateway to Hell, it gives NASA and other agencies a blueprint for what to look for on hot, gas-heavy planets outside our solar system.
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The Future of the Crater
Is it actually going away? Probably not anytime soon. While the Turkmen government regularly talks about extinguishing the flame, the logistics and cost are staggering. For now, it remains a bucket-list item for the truly adventurous (and those who can navigate the red tape of the Turkmen visa office).
If you’re planning to go, you need to be self-sufficient. Bring more water than you think you need. The desert doesn't care about your Instagram photos. It’s harsh, it’s unforgiving, and the crater is a reminder that the earth has plenty of energy it’s willing to throw away if we aren't careful.
Steps for the Aspiring Traveler
- Secure a Visa Early: This is the hardest part. Start at least three months out. Use a reputable agency like StanTours or Advantour to help with the LOI.
- Fly to Ashgabat: It’s a weird, white-marble city that feels like a sci-fi movie set. Spend a day there before heading into the Karakum.
- Pack for Extremes: The desert is boiling by day and freezing at night. Layers are your best friend.
- Don't Get Too Close: The edges of the crater are sandy and can be unstable. There are no guardrails. No one is coming to catch you if you slip.
The Gateway to Hell is a fluke of history. It’s a mistake that became a monument. Whether it burns for another fifty years or gets snuffed out by a government engineering project next month, it stands as one of the most surreal sights on the planet. Just don't believe the 1971 match story at face value—the truth is much more mysterious.
Actionable Insights for Your Visit:
Before booking anything, check the current status of the "closure orders" from the Turkmen Ministry of Oil and Gas. While the crater is currently open, government policy can change overnight. Always hire a driver with a satellite phone; the Karakum Desert has zero cell service once you leave the main highway, and getting stranded in the heat is a genuine survival risk. Ensure your travel insurance specifically covers Turkmenistan, as many standard policies exclude it due to its political status.