Darvaza Gas Crater

In the flat sands of the Karakum Desert, far from any town, a pit roughly 60–70 metres across and about 30 metres deep has been burning for decades. Natural gas seeping from the ground feeds countless small flames along its walls and floor, and the heat can be felt well before the rim. By day it is a strange, shimmering hole in the desert; after dark it becomes something else entirely — an orange glow visible from a distance, with the roar of the fire the only sound for miles. Locals and visitors call it the Door to Hell; Turkmenistan's official name is the Shining of Karakum.

How the crater formed is still disputed. The most widely repeated account holds that Soviet engineers drilled here in 1971 in search of oil, that the ground collapsed into a cavern of natural gas within days, and that the gas was set alight to stop it spreading. Some Turkmen geologists tell a different story: that the collapse happened in the 1960s and the fire was lit only in the 1980s. No documentary record settles the question, and the uncertainty has become part of the crater's character.

The crater has drawn scientists as well as travellers. In 2013 the explorer George Kourounis became the first person to reach its floor, gathering soil samples, looking for microbes able to survive the conditions, and in the same year the area was declared a nature reserve. Turkmenistan's leadership has more than once announced plans to put the fire out, and wells have been drilled nearby to capture gas; the reported result is a much weaker blaze than before, but the pit still burns. The best time to see it is at dusk and into the night, when the desert around falls dark.

Getting there

The crater lies near Darvaza in the central Karakum, about 260 km north of Ashgabat. The nearest town of any size is Yylanly, about 200 km away, and Dashoguz International Airport (TAZ) is roughly 205 km to the north. Most travellers start from Ashgabat International Airport (ASB) and drive about four hours on the highway across the desert; the last few kilometres to the rim are sandy track, so visits are usually made with a local driver and an off-road vehicle, often camping overnight near the crater.