I'm originally from Pottsville, not far away, used to work in Mt. Carmel, also very close--my former boss grew up in Centrailia, and that's when there were still a bunch of houses there (back in the early 90s.) I remember helping my boss John strip out the copper wiring and pipes in his house to sell as scrap before they knocked down the house. Then he turned around and built a paint shop in town (just a moveable garage, that was the only way they would let him build a structure there.) Now just about everything is gone.
There are spots that you can see steam coming out of the ground through vent pipes or just cracks, and there are spots where the ground feels warm. But you can't see any actual fire anywhere. As far as stuff to do there--if you're into geocaching, there's at least 2 caches in the immediate area. In nearby Ashland, there is the Pioneer Tunnel Coal mine, which takes you down into a formerly working mine, on a mini-lokie, for a pretty cool tour. A 20 minute drive to Pottsville will get you to the Yuengling Brewery, where you can tour (and sample the beer from) America's oldest brewery. Not too far from Centralia is Knoebel's Amusement Park, which is cool because they don't charge admission--you can go, buy $5 worth of tickets, ride the roller coaster once, and leave--or spend the day there. They also have a nice campground there. If you have off-road toys, the new Anthracite Off-Road Adventure Area (AOAA) is just outside of nearby Shamokin--Jeeps, Razrs, dirt bikes, trucks--it's all fair game and legal, with some really nice trails.
And of course, lots of twisty, 2-lanes. Routes 61, 54, 901, and 42 are all scenic roads that wind through former and active coal areas, mountains, and farms. Summer is a nicer time to visit anywhere in PA, obviously, but it's a nice fall trip too.
DEFINITELY, just include Centralia as a stop while on the way to see other things. In fact, you don't even have to stop! There are a couple places where you can see some smoke coming out of the ground, but that's about all there is there. Don't spend a lot of time there! There's a coal mine tour in Ashland which is just 2 or 3 miles from Centralia. Go north & west to PA Grand Canyon, Kinzua Bridge, Kinzua Dam, Watkins Glen State Park, and also in Central NY is Letchworth State Park, and there's Taughannock Falls State Park in Ithaca, and WAY too much to see in PA & NY. Go through Centralia just so you can say you were there, but it's not worth more than a 10 minute stop! Go see the good stuff!
I live less than a mile away and don't understand the fascination with it. On any given weekend, there are hundreds of people stopping by there checking it out. Last year there was a guy who setup a hot dog cart there but must have been chased by the police. State police have been there a lot this year chasing people for trespassing.
I live less than a mile away and don't understand the fascination with it.
Some people probably find a fire burning underground for over 50 years causing the area to be condemned, slightly interesting and unique. People also enjoy visiting ghost towns.
I know this is an old post but just throwing it out there. I wouldn’t make this a day trip or a bike trip especially if you are not local. You will be disappointed but if your heading to like the poconos or knobels amusement park or something you are making a day trip out of it would be alright to pass thru. Honestly because there is absolutely nothing to see. Just painted roads and trash because it became a town where people dump now. Most of the center town is opened and leveled other than the couple occupied houses there. There is a church on the hill but absolutely NOTHING and you would be dissapointed. We go because we are local and usually heading somewhere and it’s just a pit stop and of course there’s nothing so we’re not bothered. But like I said it’s worth a quick 5-10 min stop passing through but don’t waste a day trip you won’t see smoke or the ground burning or even notice it’s on fire which is why people go. It’s a true story and neat to think about it but it doesn’t show going there the only thing that’s neat is it does seem like a ghost can feel eary and you may feel like your in a zombie move waiting for them to come out. Here’s a few pictures of what the roads look like just throughout the town. I don’t have actual pics of the town when I was there just the back roads.
Go to the Ashland Coal Mine Tour for a day trip. It's pretty cool. Centralia' s only a couple miles away if you have to see Centralia. Otherwise, I agree with Josh. There's nothing there. No visible smoke or fire. Would be a disappointment if anybody expects to see anything there.
My buddy and I stopped in Centralia in June 2016 on a back-road ride down from Albany, NY to Dillsburg, PA. Like many others have said, there aren’t many structures remaining. There’s only 2-3 houses and a cemetery. But, I would recommend checking it out just to experience those creepy ghost town vibe. The abandoned stretch of PA-61 is pretty neat; it’s a roughly mile-long stretch of road in the woods covered in graffiti. I’ve never seen anything like it. There are also large cracks in the road caused by the fire underground. The coal underground forms a major part of the supporting rock strata. When fire burns up the coal in an area the surface sometimes collapses. We didn’t see any smoke or fire, but we did feel the fire’s heat. We hiked down a trail behind the cemetery and suddenly felt a hot wind coming out of the ground; it felt like standing in front of a open oven.
The roads heading south are great. Lots of twisties and beautiful views as you ride up on ridge and down the other. Centralia is within about 3 hours of the Harley factory in York, Hershey Park, Troegs Brewing Company, Gettysburg, and Pennsylvania Dutch Country. I recommend making Centralia a stop on the way to those places.
If your riding north from Centralia into NY, check out Watkins Glen and the area around Seneca Lake, especially the stops on the Finger Lakes Beer Trail.
I've been there several times as part of a day trip. The attraction is it is something that I heard about growing up near Philly and I wanted to see it for myself. Besides the handful of homes there the old police station/fire station is still there but looks deserted. There was a vehicle in there the last time I was there. There is but one sign indicating you are in Centralia. It is actually on the southbound side of PA Rt 42 just north of town coming from Aristes. It's small, perhaps 3 inches tall and 8 inches wide. About 5 or so years ago there used to be a bench in the center of the town near where the VFW used to be but it disappeared. There was also a time capsule buried there I believe.
There are several cemeteries in town, one is close to the closed section of Rt 61 joins in with the current portion as you enter town. There is another that is not far away, I believe it was the Odd Fellows Cemetery and that is close to where the fire started. It was a gravel road and nothing to see but a cemetery.
As was said the State Police are cracking down on those who stop and wander about the town. There was a path where you could get your bike onto old Rt 61 and I have done that twice, but only because I had been there before and knew where the large holes in the road were. I certainly would not recommend that now due to the increased police presence.
04-06-2016, 07:53 PM
