The public forums require you to create an account to view them. You must fully register your account before you can see the rest of the forum.
Thanks for visiting! We are a loose group of local urban explorers devoted to responsible, ethical, and low-impact exploration of our urban environment. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with some of the following information.
What are we all about?
We try to explore in a way that allows us to continue exploring in the future. We want to allow others the opportunity to explore a site, and not endanger its appearance or accessibility. We follow the urban exploration motto: TAKE ONLY PICTURES, LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINTS
We try not to publicize or promote sites too widely. When talking about locations or sharing photos/videos, be discrete. Do not reveal exact locations or entrance details. Do not damage anything in the process of getting in.
Some locations are dangerous. There can be pollution or physical hazards. You could be injured. If you go on someone else's property without permission, you could be cited by the police or arrested. Nobody connected with this web site is advising you to do anything illegal or dangerous. If you do so, it is your choice, and you agree to take responsibility for your own actions.
KCUE follows a basic set of ethics when we explore and we ask that you familiarize yourself with them:
- KCUE is 18+ only! This is for ethical and liability reasons. If you have to ask why this rule exists, you probably don't belong here.
- Prioritize safety in all aspects of exploring in order to minimize the risks whether that be from harm or safety from the heat.
- Don’t be a jerk! Treat all members with respect and as you yourself would like to be treated. We want everyone to interact in constructive ways to help foster a welcoming and empowering community. Not everyone catches the drift or ethics of the community right away.
- Take Only Photos, Leave Only Footprints. We want to try and explore in a way that allows us to continue exploring in the future. It's a part of our livelihood to preserve locations, especially the really amazing untouched spots! Learn more about how you can explore in a way that promotes longevity here.
- Be responsible online. Most of us enjoy taking and sharing photos and videos but unfortunately we’ve had a lot of instances of locations getting blown, vandalised, and sealed because of social media. We have a guide for social media best practices here.
- Respect the privacy of all members and explorers. Don’t post anyone’s personal information or private photos without their permission. Likewise, also be sure to not post anyone’s face publicly without their permission, some people’s livelihood depends on it! There are plenty of free blurring apps on the app stores.
- Patience is a virtue. You may have heard this proverb before, but it means that your ability to wait calmly and not get upset is a green flag. We prefer to take things one step at a time, in exploring and building trust, and there will be times where it might seem like people are being elitist or gatekeeping. We’ve been burned a few times in the past so we like to get to know people and their intentions first.
- Be ethical with your tools. As you progress as an urban explorer, you may discover that some areas require the use of tools to access things you want to see. It's important that we use tools in ways that minimize any potential harm or damage to the environments in which we explore. Using subtle and precise tools often leave more of a positive impact rather than their more overt counterparts such as crowbars and bolt cutters. Our goal is no one knowing that we were there.
- Respect houseless folks. Many of the locations we explore may serve as refuge for houseless individuals. We try not to disturb those people and we certainly do not attempt to forcibly remove people from their home. Instead, if it's possible and safe to do so, offer support. This could be a friendly conversation, supplies, or simply just respecting their space.
- If you don’t understand why we do something a certain way, ASK about it. For example, you may not understand why no one wants to use the super easy and obvious door into a super secret tunnel, until you find out that was how a group was busted there. Or there might be certain areas “off limits” because it's being watched by the neighbors or has active workers. Maybe you don’t fully understand what's okay and what's not. Ask one of our core members with an orange username!
What are the Different Tiers?
Our forum is divided into different membership sections in an effort to keep locations safe. These tiers act as Levels of Trust. Doing a location that might be considered a "Tier 3 spot" (infiltration, buildings with power, active locations, ect.) won't automatically make you a Tier 3 explorer or someone worthy of being given more trust. A good way to envision it is to think of our tier system like your showing up at a new friend's house:
Tier 1: The Front Door/Entryway
The Front Door is our first interactions with you and where we get to know you. First impressions are everything; being wise with what you post and being mindful of how you act play a big role into how the community will interact with you going forward. If you're cool and show you're a trustworthy person, you will advance to:
Tier 2: The Main Floor
This is a more private area of the forum for you to share/see things that shouldn't be in the public section. This area is generally reserved for posting locations that take a bit more knowledge to find/get into. This is a great opportunity for you to get involved in the community too, like meeting other explorers and getting out on your own! This is a long-term tier meaning that there is nothing wrong with chilling out on The Main Floor indefinitely. This is a great area to show off your history digging skillz and help properly document the places we visit.
Tier 3: The Basement
This is an area reserved for members who have explored in the community for an extended period of time and have shown trustworthiness, integrity, craftiness, and level-headed behavior. This is also where we post locations that require infiltration, have active security, places with power, and locations we covet and don't want getting into the wrong hands. Exploring locations at this level doesn't mean you automatically get put in this tier. This area is a higher level of trust and if you have shown that you can't respect the rules or you have shown you can't be trustworthy, there is a low likelihood you will ever be considered for this area.
This is also a vouched tier, meaning someone else who is in this tier already has to take responsibility for you and recommend you to be upgraded. Other tier 3 members will vote on this recommendation and if there are no objections, you can be upgraded.
Stick around, be cool, contribute to the history documented here, and maybe soon you'll be able to see more sections of our home
How should I use the KCUrbex forum?
As with any web forum, these are some things to consider:
1: Respectful communication: Avoid flame wars, personal attacks, or drama. Sarcasm, humor, and emotions can be misunderstood. Calm down.
2: Good spelling and grammar are greatly appreciated. They make your message readable and mature.
3: Have patience with delays, rules, and community norms.
4: Keep the discussion "clean" and ethical - Discussion of anything more illegal than trespassing is not allowed on the forum. Although parts of the forum are "private", you should not expect complete or permanent privacy.
5: “How do I get into *fill in the blank location* ?”
Do not reveal the exact location of sensitive sites; that is, locations that could be damaged or would get extra security added if a lot of people start going there.
6. Do not post anyone's personal information or likeness without their permission.
7. This site is for people who are 18 and older.
We look forward to meeting you <3