15 Forbidden Places On Earth Most People Will Never Set Foot In

Surtsey did not exist until the 1960s, when a volcanic eruption off Iceland’s southern coast pushed a brand new island above sea level. Almost immediately, scientists recognized its value. The Icelandic Environment Agency designated the island and surrounding waters as a protected nature reserve, with strict rules designed to keep human interference as close to zero as possible.

Now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Surtsey functions as a long-term experiment in natural colonization. Researchers study how plants, insects, and birds establish themselves on untouched land, without roads, buildings, or tourism muddying the results.

Access is limited to approved scientists only, including a tightly controlled research visit in 2019 that relied on drones and helicopters, as reported by Iceland Monitor.

That level of protection is enforced aggressively. Iceland Review previously detailed an incident in which a tomato plant was discovered growing on the island after human waste had been left behind. The plant was promptly destroyed to prevent contamination of the ecosystem.

Carved deep into a mountainside on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was built as a safeguard against global food loss.

The facility sits roughly 100 meters underground and stores millions of seed samples representing crop varieties from around the world.

The seeds are preserved in sealed chambers kept at extremely low temperatures to slow genetic ageing, a system designed to protect biodiversity over the long term.

The Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food has detailed how the vault functions as a secure backup rather than an active distribution center, operating independently of political or economic crises.

Physical access to the vault is tightly restricted. NordGen oversees day-to-day operations, and staff enter only when new deposits are scheduled.

Under the vault’s black-box system, seed ownership never transfers, meaning only the original depositors are permitted to retrieve their samples, as explained by NordGen.

In Ethiopia’s Afar Triangle, the Danakil Desert lies roughly 125 meters below sea level, placing it among the lowest exposed landscapes on Earth. Heat here is constant, the ground is unstable, and volcanic activity shapes the terrain in visible ways.

Mud pools bubble without warning. Sulfur hardens across the surface. Lava burns blue in open air. Sections of land continue to sink as tectonic forces pull the region apart.

These conditions have been observed for decades through satellite imagery and field research collected by NASA Science, which treats the Danakil as a real-world case study.

Geography alone does not explain the lack of access. Cross-border tensions and militant activity have made the area volatile enough that governments continue to advise against non-essential travel.

And yet, the desert is not empty. The Afar people have lived in the Danakil for generations, sustaining themselves through salt mining and seasonal movement across the flats.

When outsiders enter the region, they are subject to rigid logistical rules: fixed routes, mandatory guides, group travel, and armed escorts.

Those requirements are part of standard operating procedures used by tour operators working in the area, as reflected in travel guidance published by EthioTours.

North Sentinel Island lies off the coast of India, in the Andaman archipelago, and is widely regarded as the most isolated inhabited place on Earth.

Its residents, known as the Sentinelese, have lived without sustained outside contact for tens of thousands of years, a period outlined by Survival International, which works closely with Indigenous groups worldwide.

To preserve that isolation, the Indian government has enforced a strict no-contact policy since the mid-20th century, banning travel to the island and its surrounding waters.

The restriction exists primarily to protect the Sentinelese from diseases to which they have no immunity, a concern repeatedly raised by officials and researchers.

The danger of ignoring that barrier became tragically clear in 2018, when American missionary John Allen Chau attempted to land on the island and was killed shortly after arrival.

The incident, which also led to the arrest of local fishermen who helped transport him, was detailed extensively by BBC News.

In 1940, four teenagers stumbled across a cave in southwestern France that would later be recognized as one of the most important prehistoric art sites ever found. Its walls are covered in paintings dating back roughly 17,000 years, offering a rare window into Stone Age life.

After World War II, the cave was opened to the public and quickly became a major attraction, drawing close to 1,200 visitors a day, as the Washington Post reported.

That popularity came at a cost. By the early 1960s, carbon dioxide from visitors’ breath, along with algae growth and dark fungal spots, began damaging the artwork.

French authorities permanently closed the cave in 1963 to prevent further deterioration.

Often referred to as the Sistine Chapel of cave art, Lascaux is now accessible only to conservators and scientists, who are limited to no more than 200 hours inside each year.

Le Temps de Vivre notes that the black spots have begun to recede in recent years. To balance preservation with public interest, a full-scale replica was built nearby at the Lascaux International Centre of Parietal Art.

Long before 9/11 reshaped New York City’s sense of disaster, a quieter tragedy unfolded just off the Bronx shoreline. In 1904, the General Slocum excursion steamboat caught fire and ran aground at North Brother Island, killing an estimated 863 people.

At the time, the island already functioned as a hospital for infectious diseases. Survivors pulled from the East River were brought ashore and treated there, a detail preserved in records held by the New-York Historical Society.

After the disaster, North Brother Island remained in institutional use for decades. Riverside Hospital, housing for war veterans, and later a rehabilitation center, all operated on the island, with site histories outlined by New York Parks.

Most of those buildings have since fallen into severe disrepair. Public access is now restricted, and the island has gradually transitioned into a protected refuge for bird species covered by conservation laws.

Deep within the forests of Japan’s Mie Prefecture sits the country’s most sacred Shinto site, shielded from view by tall wooden fences. Access to the inner sanctuaries is restricted to members of the Imperial family and a small circle of priests.

At the heart of the complex is the Inner Shrine (Naiku), dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu and traditionally associated with the Sacred Mirror, one of Japan’s three Imperial Regalia.

Visitors are still allowed to enter the surrounding forest and walk the gravel paths through the shrine grounds. GaijinPot notes that this access deliberately stops short of the inner buildings, which remain hidden behind fences, leaving only their rooftops visible, and photography is prohibited.

Impermanence is central to Ise’s identity. Every twenty years, the entire shrine complex is dismantled and rebuilt from scratch in a ceremony known as Shikinen Sengu, a practice The Japan Times has examined as an expression of tokowaka, or renewal through continuity, allowing the shrine to remain spiritually constant while physically renewed.

Beneath a 249-foot earthen mound in China’s Shaanxi Province lies the untouched burial chamber of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty. The tomb sits at the heart of a vast mausoleum complex constructed over nearly four decades by an estimated 700,000 workers and remained undiscovered until 1974, as detailed by Archeology News.

The sealed chamber lies near the famous Terracotta Army, whose surrounding pits form part of what is recognized as the largest tomb of a known individual. That distinction has been formally acknowledged by Guinness World Records.

Despite decades of archaeological interest, direct access to the tomb remains prohibited. Visitors are limited to the surrounding gardens and mountain areas, while excavation is confined to outer sections of the complex.

A 2020 study published in Scientific Reports found unusually high levels of mercury within the mausoleum, including airborne contamination, adding another layer of risk to disturbing the site.

Povegelia Island earned its reputation long before rumors of hauntings took hold. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the small island in Italy’s Venetian Lagoon was used as a quarantine station during repeated plague outbreaks.

As deaths mounted and burial space disappeared, bodies were burned in mass pits in an effort to slow the spread of infection.

The island later served as a psychiatric hospital, a chapter that fed darker stories before the facility shut down in 1968. Accounts of its medical history and abandonment have been documented by The Mirror.

For decades afterward, safety concerns kept Povegelia closed to the public, with access limited to approved research teams and film crews. That status may now be changing.

CNN recently reported that a local group, Poveglia per Tutti, secured a six-year lease with plans to reopen the island as a public park for Venice residents.

Hidden within the Nevada desert, Area 51 has long occupied a strange space between military reality and public imagination.

The remote United States Air Force installation was originally built to test and develop experimental aircraft and train pilots, work that remained classified for decades.

Declassified records later released by the National Security Archive show that the base played a central role in Cold War aviation programs, including the testing of reconnaissance aircraft designed to evade Soviet radar.

Over time, the site’s secrecy, combined with its complete absence from public maps, helped fuel speculation far beyond its original mission.

Officially known as Groom Lake, the base remains closed to the public. Access is limited to authorised military personnel and scientists holding top-secret clearances, many of whom are flown in by unmarked Janet Airlines.

Although the facility began operating in 1955, the US government did not formally acknowledge its existence until 2013.

Ni'ihau lies about 18 miles west of Kaua'i and remains the smallest inhabited Hawaiian island. Privately owned by the Robinson family, it has been largely closed to outsiders for generations in an effort to shield its community from outside influence.

The island’s residents are Native Hawaiians who live under strict cultural guidelines. Hawaiian remains the primary language, and modern infrastructure is intentionally limited.

As MessyNessy has documented, there are no paved roads, no public utilities such as running water or phones, and no conventional medical facilities.

Ni'ihau briefly entered global history during World War II. In 1941, a Japanese pilot crash-landed on the island after the attack on Pearl Harbor and, with the help of a local resident, attempted to take hostages.

The situation ended when Ben Kanahele intervened, killing the pilot despite sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. The National Archives later recorded that Kanahele survived and was awarded both the Medal of Merit and the Purple Heart.

The largest natural stone arch in Europe has reached a point where preservation matters more than access. Pravcicka Brana stands inside Bohemian Switzerland National Park in the Czech Republic, a towering sandstone formation measuring roughly 16 meters high and 26 meters across.

Decades of natural erosion have weakened the rock supporting the arch, prompting authorities to ban climbing and foot traffic entirely. The restriction exists to slow further damage and prevent the structure from collapsing under human pressure, a concern outlined on the official Pravcicka Brana site.

Visitors can still view the landmark from below or from Falcon’s Nest, a summerhouse built for Prince Edmund in 1881. Its fragility became even more evident in 2022 when wildfires burned through parts of the surrounding park and threatened the area, as Bohemia Adventures documented.

Mezhgorye is one of Russia’s officially closed cities, a place defined as much by what is known as by what is not. Tucked into the Ural Mountains near Mount Yamanatou, the town is classified as a Closed Administrative-Territorial Formation, placing it off-limits to the general public for reasons tied to national security.

That secrecy has fueled decades of speculation about what happens behind its checkpoints. While Russian authorities have never confirmed the site's purpose, long-standing reports indicate continued government investment there.

In the mid-1990s, the New York Times reported that construction and funding persisted despite broader economic strain.

Today, access to Mezhgorye remains tightly controlled. Only officials with the proper security clearance are permitted entry, reinforcing the city’s status as one of the most restricted locations in the country.

For centuries, the Vatican Apostolic Archives have served as the official record keeper of the Holy See.

Formerly known as the Vatican Secret Archives until a name change in 2019, the collection holds documents dating back to the 8th century and is housed within Vatican City itself, under the protection of the Swiss Guard.

Access to the archives is deliberately narrow. Only accredited scholars are permitted inside, and even then, entry is limited by strict daily caps.

The reading rooms inside the Vatican Apostolic Archives contain roughly 53 miles of shelving, but no more than 60 researchers are admitted each day.

Gaining access involves more than academic interest alone. Public Medievalist outlines an application process that requires formal recommendations, an interview, and an official letter of invitation before researchers are cleared to consult the materials.

Off the coast of São Paulo sits Ilha da Queimada Grande, better known as Snake Island, a place where human access is limited almost entirely by necessity.

The small island is infamous for its dense population of venomous snakes, including the Golden Lancehead viper, a species found nowhere else on Earth.

The danger is not exaggerated. DiscoverWildlife estimates that between 2,000 and 4,000 snakes inhabit the island, creating an environment where encounters are unavoidable and potentially lethal.

Because of that risk, visits are tightly controlled. Entry is restricted to approved scientists and members of the Brazilian Navy, who travel to the island primarily to service its automated lighthouse, a policy explained by HowStuffWorks.