The Door to Hell – Burning Gas Crater in Darvaza, Turkmenistan

There are several places around the world that locals believe are a door to hell. Endless catacombs beneath the city of Paris, France for example or Dimmuborgir lava formations in Iceland. When it comes to sheer jaw-dropping effect, however, The Door to Hell by Darvaza in Turkmenistan takes the cake. I would also classify Darvaza as one of the places that should be on the must-visit list of every serious explorer who likes to visit Earth’s most breath-taking sites. Darvaza is a gas crater the burning gates of which have been flaming for upwards of 37 years.

The Door to Hell in Turkmenistan, Photo
The Door to Hell in Turkmenistan, Photo

Darvaza Burning Gas Crater

Turkmenistan is very rich in natural resources. Currently a sovereign country, Turkmenistan was part of the Soviet Union until 1991. It was during rule of Soviet Russia, back in 1971 when geologists were conducting gas drilling in Kara-Kum desert and discovered an underground chamber close to the village of Darvaza (known in Turkmen as Derweze, but sometimes also referred to as Darvaz). The discovery of the chamber was accidental and resulted in drilling rig collapsing, leaving giant gas crater filled with poisonous gases exposed to the world outside. The concentration of gases within the crater was high so nobody dared to go down there. It was then when someone came with an idea to light the gas in the crater on fire so as to burn it before the poisonous fumes engulf the nearby town of Darvaza.

The geologists thought the idea of burning the gas was smart and went ahead with lighting the crater on fire. As it turns out, the supply of quality natural gas below the crater is near infinite as the crater’s been burning since. At the time of this post, on June of 2009 the gas crater in Darvaza is still burning and has been since 1971 without interruption. No one can even imagine how much quality natural gas was burnt throughout the 38 years of the crater being on fire. No one can estimate how much more gas there still is. When they first lit the gas crater on fire, they thought the fire would go out after a few days. It’s been more than a few day, it’s been more than a few weeks or months. It’s been decades and the gas crater is burning just as it did the day it was first lit. Putting all economical loses from wasted natural gas aside, imagine the ecological impact this burning gas has cause during decades of non stop burning!

Darvaza Gas Crater at Night with Silhouettes of People
Darvaza Gas Crater at Night with Silhouettes of People

The Door to Hell

The locals from Darvaza have given the burning crater a name that suits it well – The Door to Hell. And everyone who visits Darvaza agrees with the name and finds it appropriate. When you look inside the burning gas crater, you do feel like this is what the door to hell would look like. No one dared to enter the chamber when it was first discovered and no one has dared there since. After all, everyone knows what kind of path a door o hell takes you. And it’s not the path anyone would voluntarily want to embark on. Seeing the door to hell with your own eyes, however is an experience like no other. You will have long stayed in awe after experiencing the viciousness of the fire within the gorge of the burning crater. The Door to Hell would be an amazing vacation experience for the adventurous wonderers. This is a vacation idea that your mainstream tour operators don’t know about. And that’s the beauty of it.

Darvaza The Burning Gates Gas Hole in Turkmenistan
Darvaza The Burning Gates Gas Hole in Turkmenistan

Darvaza Location

Darvaza is located in Turkmenistan but many sources mistakenly mention that it’s located in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is a country next to Turkmenistan and Darvaza is definitely not located there. Which is a good thing as there have been travel warnings for Uzbekistan for a long time, urging all travelers to avoid the country due to high risks of terrorist attacks and/or civil disturbances. But Uzbekistan is not where Darvaza is.

Darvaza and the burning gas crater are located in the central area of Turkmenistan, about 260 km north of Turkmenistan’s capital city Ashgabat. Check out the location of Darvaza on the interactive map below:

Is Turkmenistan Safe to Travel to?

Turkmenistan is located in the Middle East (Central Asia) and is surrounded by countries such as Afghanistan or Iran, which are known for frequent terrorist attacks, war, kidnapping and other crime against tourists. Despite proximities to war zones, the US Bureau of Consular Affairs has no warnings for Turkmenistan at this time, other than a recommendation to exercise normal degree of caution and keep aware of your surroundings at all times. For US Department of State Travel Website with more info and more up to date travel warnings, click HERE.

Canadian Foreign Affairs and International Trade Office however warns that tourists to Turkmenistan should exercise HIGH degree of caution based on sporadic clashes that occurred in September of 2008 in the outskirts of Ashgabat in the northern district of Khitrovka. For Canadian Foreign Affairs and International Trade Website with more info on Turkmenistan and more up to date travel warning, click HERE.

Despite its proximity to war zones and a violent clash from a year ago (which country hasn’t had one like that) Turkmenistan seems like a reasonably safe country to travel to at this time. Unless situation changes dramatically, the regions around Darvaza appear safe and friendly. A tourist should however always remain cautious and don’t needlessly attract attention on to themselves. Don’t show off and don’t walk desolate streets alone at night. Just general personal safety advice that should be in place no matter where you’re travelling to.

The Door to Hell Video

Darvaza The Burning Gas Hole Photo Gallery

Darvaza the Burning Gates Image
Darvaza the Burning Gates Image
Pic of the Door to Hell in Darvaza, Turkmenistan
Pic of the Door to Hell in Darvaza, Turkmenistan

Photo Source: English Russia

340 thoughts on “The Door to Hell – Burning Gas Crater in Darvaza, Turkmenistan”

  1. Hi Jo,
    Pleasure meeting a fellow African, i’m Asian by the way and from from Durban and you…. not being optimistic or anything like that, the pit has being burning for 37 years straight, dont you think thats a long time for a fire to be burning, although it MAY not be causing any harm to the enviroment or any self being, i still feel that it should be put off, like any other fire we have.

  2. Hey Ravi

    I’m from Jozi, coming down your way in a few days on holiday! Yay! I don’t think that the fire would still be burning if all the gas was gone and I feel that it’s safer to let all the gas burn up than to let it escape into the air. The fire is not doing anyone/thing any harm at the moment.

  3. come to think of it further, you may have a point there Jo, only if its not doing anyone any harm or distroying the earths atmosphere in slow strides.
    Cool, you coming down to Durbz and i’m up in JHB in two weeks on business, its rather hot down here, suggest you dress cool and you must visit the beach, another cool place to hang out with your family is Ushaka Marine, if you’ve not being there, take a dive there and spend the day, you wont regret it, trust me…hope you enjoy your stay in our beautiful Durban…

  4. Thanks Ravi. We’re staying in Uvongo and the plan is to go to Ushaka for a day. Thanks for the tip on the weather. And you better pack your raincoat – we’ve been having LOADS of rain! Enjoy

  5. Ah damnit. I found this thread too late. I wanted to put my say in with the first David. Oh well. Maybe I’ll find some other pile of poop to step in on the internet.

  6. As for the burning gas crater. I think if it was such a big issue for the environment they’d have done something about it already. It’s been nearly 40 years. I guess it’ll just be like Chernobyl. Nothing we can do now. Too late.

  7. This can’t be filled or stopped until the gas depletes. Does anyone know if there are wells nearby tapping this resource? It only makes sense that it is but no note on that in this thread. As a geologist I understand the reasons it was ignited and what it would take to extinquish.

    This amount of gas, while it is a lot, is still so minor in the global scale of thisngs that it should not effect our environment. It just seems a great waste. Natural gas burns very cleanly releasing Water vapor and carbon dioxide. The sulfur content while deadly in sulfur dioxide gas form is harmless once incinerated.

    The really interesting aspect here is the years this has been burning without natural depletion.
    There are underground fires that have burnt for many years with the gases exhausting to the atmosphere but almost always coal seams.
    While this seems like a lot of gas and it is, just the US burns in excess of 20 Trillion Cubic feet of natural gas per year, if I recall correctly.

    Also On the Stepps of Russia there are hundreds perhaps over a thousand wells burning and have been for many years degassing coal beds. There is no cost effective way to gather and market the gas so it is flared off. I would make an educated guess that that quantity exceeds by a magnitude the gas burnig in the doorway to hell.
    As Dave Garroway always closed – Peace.

  8. I tried reading all 250+ comments and just got so sick of the redundancy.
    David-try learning about the earth from 13B years ago until today. Start with the methane gas emanting from what is now Siberia.
    Ally, Bless You. You may have given up trying to educate David and his followers but, from a male, from Texas, who worked his way through undergratuate, graduate and law school working in the oil fields, I only wish I could have had David with me for one Summer.
    The Earth cleans herself, given a reasonable break, and has done so for more than a few years.
    Peace and health to all…..rmm

  9. you couldn’t suffocate this kind of fire like some of you have suggested because it is a gas fire and it does not need the oxygen to burn, all it requires is the gas that is being vented which is likely trapped methane under the earths surface, and also if you did manage to extinguish the fire then the gasses would still be venting and it would do a lot more damage to the environment than what it is doing currently…

  10. What that well burns in a year,I could imagine California alone uses in one hour,let alone the entire country!!!!

  11. all the people taking this as an opportunity to whine about al gore are really freakin’ weird

  12. I really truly cannot believe how stupid people can be. David is this person. i dont care what you have to say about teabagistan or global warming, or the bible, or illiterate deuschebags. okay? just please shut the fuck up. i am sick of tired of listening to jackass’s that have nothing better to do then to sit at a computer and gaybash everyone. just please david, stop talking for all of our sakes, if your going to debate with someone, then do it in person. at least then they have the option of giving you a broken nose.

    david, if you have anything else to say, either put some intelligence into it, or talk about the burning hole in the ground, otherwise just go hang yourself in your mothers basement. the world could be rid of people like you.

  13. The pit burning methane. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas and also extremely deadly. So most likely, stopping the fire is probably a bad idea in terms of being eco-friendly since methane actually burns very cleanly.

    The only way they would get away with stopping the fire without causing additional damage is to cap the site to prevent methane from escaping, or figure out a way to extract and collect the methane before it is released into the atmosphere.

    And this is what I have to say to the peanut gallery’s ideas that a methane or any gas does not need oxygen to burn, you all are idiots. Take basic high school science and you will know for anything to burn you will need an oxidizing agent.

    Some fuels contain their own oxygen (ie, gunpowder, C4, rocket fuel) meanwhile pure gases such as methane, natural gas, propane, butane or whatever all require external oxygen.

  14. David! I don’t know what to say. After reading your previous comments, i strongly disagree. But who wants to hear about your problems? Really, please, I’m sorry for you, best of luck?<3

  15. Unbelievable! The burning hole in the ground and David. Truly scary to feel the depth of his unhappiness, despair and misery.

  16. I always love how people will use any topic to pontificate their own precious point of view, from the left or right. Turkmenistan isn’t the only place one can find a flaming gas hole.

  17. Wow, I am amazed at the stupidity of this David character.. He is basing all his judgements on a few people. Not every American is the same.. that is why it is called the “mixing pot” Unfortunatly, we still allowed the idiots in who just want to live off others and cause turmoil from within. If you have such a big problem with this country, then leave.. plain and simple. To say a country as a whole is stupid, is just plain ridiculous.

  18. this is ridiculous. why did a page about darvaza get hijacked by a bunch of self-important american twats and internet trolls?

  19. its a bit upsetting that david has left tbh. but at least this thread tells you something, if your not an american (like myself) and you have seen some of the comments on here then at least your at ease knowing that not all of americans are stupid, it seems that actually the majority are not, unfortunatly the ones that really do think they are so intelligent “david” are not.
    but ye the craters pretty cool, i think its fine to be burning gives turkmenistan something good other than borats interpretation. wouldnt mind a visit myself.
    😀

  20. This hole is a big waste of energy that should be used to generate power, instead of just burning, and doing nothing but polluting the air & wasting oxygen. what a waste.
    Also, Americans are #1, we rule the world, & all america haters are just jealous our gigantic global (BleeeeeeP).

  21. Like unsupervised children, we have triggerred a fire and now we donot know what to do. Methane being lighter than air, normally escapes upward and is oxidised. , adding more CO2 to the cycle . Now it is happening at surface level. It’s a big challenge to our technicians. Hope somebody will come up with a probable solution. Unless there is some profit, no proposal will ever be tried.

  22. wow……………..amazing!!!!!!kaya’ api yang tak pernah padam..disana pasti panas bwged yach

  23. Can’t they build a simple steam reactor over it! I mean, just run the pipes over the fire, fill with water, put a generator at the end!

    boom – Energy!

  24. Seems to me that the heat can be used to produce elecricity. I mean GIGAWATTS of electricity. No one seems to give a crap about the lost energy. We use geothermal energy to generate electricity, hot water and the like, it would be a boon to the people of Turkmenistan who I’m sure could use it.

  25. YOUR CORRECT MSTAMIER BUT WE’VE KNOWN THAT NO ONE ELSE LIKE TO COME CLOSE AT THAT CRATER EXCEPT WHEN SOMEONE WOULD LIKE TO BUILD A HOT SPRING ON THAT CRATER CUZ WE’VE KNOWN THAT THE GAS THAT CRATER WAS SO DANGER

  26. well that was amusing to read through so I want to put my views so i may get abuse too, I feel left out. The whole world (not just americans although they do play a huge part)needs to work on being more efficient with their fuel consumption. But that crater is pretty cool I must admit 😀

  27. So, Al, you still throwing matches in craters?

    Being a capitalistic, money-grubbing American, I think the Turkmenistan government should make this a national park and charge admission. Make it something like the Yellowstone of Turkmenistan. Sell t-shirts, mugs, mouse pads.

    If more countries thought this way, they’d have more money of their own–thus alleviating the need for every country that ends up in need of food, water, medicine, and other aid won’t come running to the United States–you know, this country full of rude, illiterate, wealthy capitalists who gladly open their wallets to the Red Cross and other aid agencies around the globe when a tsunami, fire, earthquake, terrorist attack, typhoon, etc occurs.

  28. 1 Proudly South African with 1 goal in his mind adds to this topic which is gone way beyond controll and like every other South Africa says ” TAKE A BREAK, HAVE A KITT KAT”
    now chill peeps, were’s the love amongst us.

  29. Hiya (fellow South African) Ravi
    Long time no chat. How’s Durbs treating you? I agree with you – these Americans need to just chill and enjoy this phenomenon instead of running up their blood pressure with people they will never meet. Enjoying my Kit Kat now 🙂

  30. Heya Jo my friend, i’m well thanks, how about you.
    Durban is lekka, not to cold, hmmmm, a little breezy but nothing we cant handle……did you enjoy your trip to Durbs, did you visit Ushaka like i suggested?
    you right there Joe, why these guys working up a storm for no apparent reason, not like its going to do any good, its only HOT AIR LIKE THE BURNING HOLE…..LOL……….Got myself a double dose of Kit Katt, sitting back and enjoying the giggle with these guys…..LOL
    Take Care….
    PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICA WERE LIVING LIFE 1 GOAL AT A TIME AND MAKING A DIFFERENCE……

  31. The only thing I can complain is the cold! it’s freezing here in Jozi (must be because it’s winter LOL). The vacay was nice – my daughter was 14 months at the time and had a blast. Couldn’t visit Ushaka but will definitely next time.
    I see you are still into the world cup feva – Awesome!
    Keep well, chat again soon

  32. cool Jo, will chat soon…..

    hey a thought just came to mind, maybe some countries can use the burning hole to their advantage and make a death centence for the bad guys, can be call –
    HOLE OF DEATH…….lol……only a suggestion.

  33. For Ravi…

    Kiamat also spelt Qiyamat or Qiyamah…is the Arabic word & the Islamic belief of, well, literally the end of days lol Doomsday/Judgement Day & all that..quite ominous Chacha…I have to say tho Chacha, we all know, or most of us believe in one way or another that Judgment Day will come etc. But this, defo isn’t, so dont be afraid lol…I understand were your comin from but this isnt even a “Sign of Qiyamat” lol…Great, i’ve managed to turn this in 2a religious thing, roll on the Islamaphobe/religiousphobe (i made dat 1 up, dnt knw the proper word lol) comments.

    I have 2 say tho, still cant believe ppl actually think there’s, “no such thing as global warming” hahaha hilarious. Wen water levels rise & ur citys under it, then maybe the penny’ll drop lol…Maybe all these International Summits & Meetings on the whole matter is an “International Conspiracy” headed by America bcoz all conspiracies have 2 be headed by or involve America in 1 way or anotha, wouldnt be a conspiracy if it wasnt ryt? lol…defo cant be a gud thing 4 da enviroment but dang if aint pretty lol.

    Hope the 1st part helped Ravi & ithers 😀

  34. Hi, all.
    Bing bring us a new picture every day. I love this, because it challenges our knowledge about a lot of different sites on earth. Today was “The Hell’s Gate”, and searching for a map, I stumbled with this thread.
    I want to take the John’s post, January 2,2010, 11:18pm. I agree with him. Nevertheless, when I saw the crater and that waste of gas, my first thinking was the old wisdom “If you can’t win then join to enemy”. It’s obvious that it’s a good source for Turkmenian tourism industry, and there is no willing to cover this hole. Then the solution is to drill a lot of wells to exploit the gas. I think the cost vs earns goes to better numbers when augments the number of wells. Furthermore, it’s likely the great gas cavern to be near the surface, and the cost of drilling be low. The next issue is the distance to energy demanding population regions. How to transport the energy? Like gas or as electricity? I want to tell you the experience in our country, Chile. We are taking advantage from the natural gas. It’s transported liquified by vessels from abroad, and through pipes from neighbour country (this last way is no longer, because the neighbour doesn’t sell gas any more, and they are asking for us to sell them). Then re-gasified in coast facilities. Then transported by high pressure gas pipe through long distences to combined cycle power plants. I don’t see problems, only the will to do it.
    Peace, Athos.

  35. Hiya, thanks everyone for an enjoyable blog, I stumbled upon this because I was looking at…. heck I can’t even remember.
    If you’ll all bare with me I would love to get just 1 minute of fame on this blog whilst you read what I have to say – please note – this is just my opinion, no generalisations intended and no insults intended either – plus it’s been close to a month and wuold love to know what you’re all up to these days! 🙂
    First of all I don’t live in Turkmenistan so I think the government there should decide what to do with the ‘burning hole’ certainly not me who lives halfway around the world and couldn’t possibly make that decision happen anyway because I am not President/Prime Minister/Prince(please do pardon my ignorance) of the above mentioned country. But I do love some of the ideas that have come up – turning it into something that can help the locals and their economy is probably the best one – after all we all need a little help in life.
    I am not a smart person but I am not stupid either, I believe everyone has a right to an opinion, right or wrong as it may be, it is still there opinion. So I thank everyone for voicing theirs, it’s great that you have the right to do so, not everybody on this planet does. Though I may not agree with your opinions I do value them and I don’t think anyone should be ridiculed for discussing theirs in public.
    Secondly, I would love to visit Turkmenistan one day as this ‘hole’ seems like a fascinating semi-natural wonder and, yes, I would pay a fee as long as it wasn’t outrageous.
    Thirdly, i feel like I know you all so well, and even though it’s a pity that the arguments get a little heated, aren’t we lucky to live in places that allow us access to the internet as well as access to the wonderful variety of people that are on it too. I don’t have anything bad to say about any of you because you all have your own lives to lead and I think it’s great that you want and choose to contribute to these sorts of conversations, maybe without the bitterness though would be good. I don’t like to generalise, but some countries are a little behind the eight ball when it comes to global warming, whether it exists or not, isn’t it just a good thing to look after our home – after all we all belong to the same one and there aren’t too many within hopping distance if you know what I mean. We don’t have to agree in order to make a change for the better, and no I’m not some hippy living in a commune(just in case you were starting to generalise) :). I’m studying full time towards a Bachelors degree, I work when I can (I have a back injury which prevents this sometimes) I pay my taxes, I finished high school… eventually and I also have a diploma. But I’m not a rocket scientist either. What else should I tell you about myself…. nothing, cos that would be slightly boring, what I’m trying to get at is, I don’t know how power plants work, I don’t really want to but I don’t feel this makes me ignorant. i just know those things are better left to the people who know what they’re doing and want to know about power plants. I’m content with doing that as most of us should be. I want to make the world a better place, so I don’t judge, I don’t hate, I don’t ridicule, I don’t use religion to hide behind for all my failings, but I don’t think poorly of those who do (and no, I’m not saying that that is all religion is good for). Plus I recycle, isn’t that what it’s all about people! Oh no wait, it’s not, this website was just about places to travel, sorry, I’ve been sucked in by it all too. Hopefully though, I have some of you agreeing with me, I have some of you at least thinking about agreeing with me, and I’ve done it all without any scientific knowledge and without any anger or rude remarks. We can voice our opinions whilst disagreeing with each other, and we can save the planet, even if it’s just one blog at a time.
    Goodnight everyone, sweet dreams from the Land Down Under. Wishing everyone a very early Merry Xmas, hope all your wishes and dreams come true and your family is safe with you. Cheers.
    P.S. Did I have the longest blog in the end or does that still belong to david? 😉

  36. ((Turkmenistan is located in the Middle East (Central Asia) and is surrounded by countries such as Afghanistan or Iran, which are known for frequent terrorist attacks, war, kidnapping and other crime against tourists))
    hello guys I’m from Iran.we r not terrorists we don’t kidnap anyone, i call one terrorist who kills thousands of people in wars make them homeless.I don’t have problems with Americans Africans Russians …but I’m against of all of the governments including my own country’s government too. although we come from different places and we may not be from the same race ,but these are ghastly labels and classifications that politicians inflict upon us to divide us and to make brothers seem as strangers and strangers as brothers.at present we have been divided in to morsels they can easily devour.devision.they have narrowed the battlefield to such narrow proportions.they force us fight each other,we may be injured or even die ,but if we win the credit and power is for them SO better not to trust them.thanks

  37. I’ve been to the crater and its amazing, I also know several people that work in TM and regularly visit. On a global scale the impact of the burning gas is negligible. The crater went out of it’s own accord in the 80’s but someone lobbed a grenade in to start it again, partly because of the gas and the nearby ‘town’ of Darvaza. The towns been destroyed now at the will of the late Turkmenbashi, bulldozed into the sand…..

  38. “Seems to me that the heat can be used to produce elecricity. I mean GIGAWATTS of electricity. No one seems to give a crap about the lost energy. We use geothermal energy to generate electricity, hot water and the like, it would be a boon to the people of Turkmenistan who I’m sure could use it.”

    that’s hilarious! why would the people of TM bother, one thing they dont lack is energy, domestic gas and electrcity are free and petrol is 1 us cent a litre!

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