Seeing this is hopefully the first of many blog posts, I see it’s only fitting to introduce myself before I begin telling you about Lausanne.
I wanted to start this blog to share my experience exploring abandoned cities, buildings and nature in general. I owe the credit to my adventure loving partner for sparking my interest in this. Prior to being with him, I enjoyed hiking and nature but I always took the same paths or the most traveled one. He sparked my interest by taking me to an abandoned factory and ever since I keep researching more and more places we can go together. My general love for writing and reading seemed it only appropriate that I write of our experiences.
So, back to Lausanne Ruins. Even after visiting, and trekking through the woods for quite some time, Lausanne still seems like a mystery to me. We found out about it by visiting Atlas Obscura which is a great list, you should check it out. Thinking it would be a relatively easy find, we were mistaken. If you follow the directions listed in the above mentioned link, it directs you to park off of Route 209, which takes you into Jim Thorpe. Instead, we came in from the other side, which was off of a bike and walking trail.
The minimal directions read that we should see a worn path after a small building (BTW this runs parallel with railroad tracks. So, feeling like I was in the movie Stand By Me, we followed the tracks.
We visited last weekend, March 25, and if you’re familiar with a Pennsylvania winter, you know second winter usually graces us with a snowstorm in March. That being said, the tracks and paths were still fairly snow covered and made finding this path difficult. After walking for about a mile and a half, we ventured down the embankment and walked along the small creek in search of the foot bridge or pipe bridge that would take us to Lausanne. Probably about a mile in we realized we weren’t going to be able to walk along the creek anymore because the dense vegetation. Low and behold, the worn path wasn’t too far from the start.
Following the path, it led us directly to the pipe bridge. Simply put, it’s a very sturdy pipe with wood planks lining it and a cable on poles that run along it as well.
After walking for maybe a half mile, we stumbled upon the first set of Ruins. Which we originally thought may have been a small house. We started off next to find what was once a bridge, we found it! We followed what was once called Stagecoach Road which took us directly to it. There was another small creek that we crossed, if it were summer it would have been fine to walk through but we used rocks to make a path to the other side. We continued to follow old Stagecoach Road, which led us to the next structure. This was larger and the sides were still standing and in great condition. After taking some photos and walking around admiring the skill it took to create this, we ventured back and found one more building.
Overall, it was truly amazing to see these structures still standing after hundreds of years. But, what intrigues me the most about Lausanne is the lack of information on this once city. We learned it was built to accommodate those in the coal and railroad industry in the late 1700s, but the city couldn’t flourish and it was left abandoned. Searching many blogs, social media and searching newspaper archives, I’ve come up nearly empty handed. Some blogs stated the buildings were most likely used for storage rather then housing due to their size and structure. There is a supposed town square, which I don’t believe we found. It’s essentially the same style buildings but they located next to each other and all we saw were the buildings spread further apart.
If you’re interested in the adventure and in the mood for a good hike, I’d suggest visiting. Be prepared for some dense vegetation, water and some less worn paths. Remember to be respectful of these structures, go prepared and as always in PA woods be cautious of ticks.
Next week we’ll be venturing to Concrete City in Nanticoke, PA.
Abandoned Exploration 