Peculiar Pits

Make a pit stop at these places around the world.

by Holyn Thigpen , Community Editor

16 Places

These marvelous holes, cavities, and depressions are full of stories (and, sometimes, bears).

Busveal, England

Gwennap Pit

The excellent acoustics of this natural amphitheater made it a popular preaching spot for the founder of the Methodist Church.

Dr Alan P Newman

Added by Dr Alan P Newman

Fackler, Alabama

Neversink Pit

This natural wonder drops 16 stories straight down through rare flora and streaming waterfalls.

planan

Added by planan

Walker County, Georgia

Fantastic Pit

The perfectly named cave drop is the deepest in the continental United States, almost matching the height of Seattle’s Space Needle.

Tony Dunnell

Added by Tony Dunnell

Bisbee, Arizona

Lavender Pit

This open-pit mine is now an abandoned symbol of Bisbee's copper-mining heritage.

Added by ianlefk

The Berkeley Pit

New fungal and bacterial species call this deadly lake home.

jamesb

Added by jamesb

Belfast, Northern Ireland

The Bear Pit

Once home to a local bear named "Bruno."

TownTactics

Added by TownTactics

Bukhara, Uzbekistan

"The Bug Pit" at Zindon Prison

Where Stoddart and Connolly suffered in the infamous Bug Pit.

Added by Tawsam

Carpinteria, California

Carpinteria Tar Pits

Inky sludge oozes to the surface of this beach thanks to a rare natural tar seep.

jondi letnap

Added by jondi letnap

Western Shore, Nova Scotia

Oak Island Money Pit

Hunt for buried treasure in Nova Scotia.

atimian

Added by atimian

Hibbing, Minnesota

Hull–Rust–Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine

Nicknamed the "Grand Canyon of the North," this open-pit mine in Minnesota has a much shorter history.

apbreuhan

Added by apbreuhan

Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands

Atomic Bomb Loading Pits

The pits used to load the nuclear bombs onto the aircraft that dropped them over Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

auradlsi

Added by auradlsi

Saint-Joseph-de-Coleraine, Québec

Thetford Asbestos Mine

A scenic overlook of a pit mine hundreds of meters deep filled with blue water.

Added by scriptedfate

Laupahoehoe, Hawaii

Kaluakauka (Doctor's Pit)

The spot where the namesake of the Douglas fir met his mysterious end on a Hawaiian volcano.

Meg

Kent, Washington

Untitled (Johnson Pit #30)

Tasked with beautifying a disused stretch of industrial land one artist filled a hole with grass.

EricGrundhauser

Added by EricGrundhauser

The Gates of Hell

A fiery crater has been burning in the Karakum Desert since 1971.

Dylan

Sheffield, England

Sheffield Botanical Gardens Bear Pit

In the 19th century, this pit housed a fully grown black bear for the entertainment of visitors. Today there is a sculpture in tribute to the poor creature.

AdOYo

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