Deep in the Karakum Desert, there is a hole that refuses to stop screaming. Well, it doesn't actually scream, but the roar of the pressurized methane escaping a 230-foot-wide crater sounds suspiciously like a jet engine that never powers down. This is the Gates of Hell Turkmenistan, or as the locals call it, the Darvaza gas crater. It’s been on fire since the Nixon administration. Honestly, if you saw it at night, you’d think the earth had finally cracked open to reveal something biblical.
The orange glow is visible for miles across the dunes. It’s one of the weirdest places on the planet, mostly because it wasn't supposed to happen. It was a mistake. A massive, geological, engineering "whoops" that turned into a permanent tourist attraction in a country that isn't exactly known for being easy to visit.
What actually happened in 1971?
Most people think the crater is a natural wonder. It isn't. It’s a man-made industrial accident. Back in 1971, Soviet engineers were out here looking for oil. They set up a drilling rig, started digging, and hit a massive pocket of natural gas instead. The ground couldn't take the pressure. It collapsed. The entire rig—heavy machinery and all—swallowed into the earth. Luckily, nobody died in the initial collapse, but the engineers had a problem: the crater was leaking methane.
Methane isn't just a greenhouse gas; it’s toxic if you breathe enough of it. The Soviets were worried the gas would poison the nearby village of Darvaza. So, they did what seemed logical at the time. They threw a match in. They figured the gas would burn off in a few weeks.
That was over fifty years ago.
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It turns out the "pocket" was more like a massive subterranean reservoir. The fire hasn't flickered since. It's a surreal reminder of how human intervention can trigger cycles in nature that we simply can't switch off. You'd think with modern technology we could just... snuff it out? Not really. It’s basically a giant Bunsen burner that’s deep-rooted in the crust.
The weird reality of visiting Darvaza
Getting to the Gates of Hell Turkmenistan is a bit of a mission. Turkmenistan is one of the most isolated countries in the world, often compared to North Korea in terms of visa difficulty. You usually need a Letter of Invitation (LOI) and a mandatory guide. Once you’re in Ashgabat—the capital city which is almost entirely made of white marble—you have to drive three and a half hours into the middle of nowhere.
There are no paved roads leading directly to the rim. You're bouncing over sand tracks in a 4x4. Then, suddenly, the horizon starts to glow.
Standing at the edge is intense. There are no guardrails. No safety nets. Just a crumbling limestone edge and a drop into a 1,000-degree inferno. The heat is physical. It hits your face like an open oven door. If the wind shifts, you’re suddenly breathing in singed air and sulfur. It’s visceral. You’ll see spiders. For some reason, thousands of spiders are attracted to the light, and they literally march into the flames. It’s a dark, strange phenomenon that adds to the "hellish" vibe of the place.
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Is it actually closing soon?
You might have heard rumors that the Turkmen government wants to put the fire out. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov (and later his son, Serdar) has mentioned multiple times that the fire is a waste of valuable natural resources. It’s also an environmental nightmare. Methane is significantly more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas, though burning it (which turns it into CO2) is actually better for the atmosphere than letting it leak raw.
In 2022, the government ordered experts to find a way to extinguish the flames. They want to tap into that gas for export. But here’s the thing: they’ve said this before. In 2010, the same order was given.
Extinguishing a fire this big is a nightmare. You can't just dump water on it; the heat would just turn it to steam instantly, and the gas would keep rising. You'd likely need to drill a "relief well" to intercept the gas flow before it reaches the crater, or use explosives to collapse the cavern entirely. Both options are incredibly expensive and risky. For now, the fire remains a cornerstone of Turkmenistan’s tiny tourism industry. Without the crater, there isn't much reason for travelers to trek into the Karakum.
The George Kourounis expedition
One of the only people to ever go into the crater is Canadian explorer George Kourounis. In 2013, he donned a heat-reflective suit (basically looking like a space-man) and rappelled 100 feet down to the bottom. He was there to collect soil samples.
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What he found was actually groundbreaking. Despite the heat and the methane-rich environment, he found extremophile bacteria living at the bottom. These are organisms that thrive in conditions that would kill almost anything else. It suggests that life could exist in similar "hellish" environments on other planets. So, while it looks like a dead zone, the Gates of Hell Turkmenistan is actually a living laboratory.
Practical steps for the adventurous traveler
If you’re actually planning to see this before it (maybe) gets filled in, you need to be strategic. This isn't a "weekend trip" type of deal.
- Secure a Transit Visa vs. Tourist Visa: Transit visas (usually 3-7 days) used to be the "easy" way in without a guide, but they are notoriously hard to get now. Most people opt for a tourist visa via a registered agency like Advantour or StanTours.
- Time it for Sunset: Arrive in the late afternoon. The crater looks like a dusty hole in the ground during the day. It only becomes "The Gates of Hell" once the sun drops and the contrast between the black desert and the orange fire takes over.
- Wild Camping: Most tours set up yurts or tents a few hundred yards from the rim. Bring a high-quality mask. Not for COVID, but for the dust and the occasional waft of gas.
- Respect the Edge: The ground around the crater is unstable. Every year, bits of the rim crumble into the pit. Don't be the person who tries to get a "cool" selfie on a limestone overhang that’s been baking for 50 years.
The reality of the Gates of Hell Turkmenistan is that it represents a bizarre intersection of human error and natural power. It’s a place that shouldn't exist, yet it persists, burning through millions of dollars of gas every year just to light up the desert sky. Whether it’s extinguished next year or burns for another century, it remains the ultimate symbol of the unpredictable consequences of the Soviet industrial era.
Pack layers. The desert is freezing at night, even if you're standing next to a giant pit of fire. It's a contradiction, just like the country itself.
Check your passport validity immediately—Turkmenistan requires at least six months of validity from your date of entry. Reach out to a specialized Central Asian travel agency at least three months in advance to start the Letter of Invitation process, as the rejection rate for independent travelers remains high. Finally, ensure your travel insurance specifically covers "repatriation" and "high-risk zones," as the Darvaza region is remote with zero medical facilities nearby.