Eco-tourism typically conjures up images of pristine forests and beaches. Now, some environmental groups are offering another type of trip—tours of places ravaged by pollution. Whether you’re after a glimpse of Texas’ Refinery Row or a journey through Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, there are sites to shock even the most intrepid traveler. We’ve collected “brochures” from a few toxic tourism destinations.

 

Wilmington Toxic Tour
Los Angeles, California
RUN BY Communities for a Better Environment
SIGHTS TO SEE Visit neighborhoods overshadowed by massive port terminals and refineries.
TYPICAL CROWD College students and high school kids
KODAK MOMENT Watch flares rise from the refineries. “It’s kind of like candlelight,” says program director Yuki Kidokoro—although, the rotten-egg stench can spoil the effect.
TAKE-HOME MESSAGE Overdevelopment stinks, especially if you live next door.

Mountaintop Removal Tour
Hazard, Kentucky
RUN BY Catholic Committee of Appalachia
SIGHTS TO SEE Father John Rausch leads a tour of vast coal mines created by blasting the tops off mountains.
TYPICAL CROWD Religious eco-warriors
KODAK MOMENT Sing hymns just 200 feet from an exploding mountain. “It’s like an earthquake,” says Rausch. “It’s visceral!”
TAKE-HOME MESSAGE Some mines are the size of Manhattan, and their waste has clogged 1,200 miles of mountain streams.

Superfund365.org
nationwide
RUN BY Digital artist Brooke Singer
SIGHTS TO SEE Log on for virtual tours of the country’s most contaminated spots—one for each day of the year. Or, take a self-guided tour to a local landmark identified on the site and post your own material.
TYPICAL CROWD Green geeks
KODAK MOMENT View interactive flower charts of each site’s pollutants—one petal per contaminant.
TAKE-HOME MESSAGE Some sites are so filthy that you’ll be glad you stayed home.

Suncor Energy Plant
Fort McMurray, Alberta
RUN BY Fort McMurray Tourism and Suncor Energy
SIGHTS TO SEE Behold the massive machinery used to extract oil from oil sands—but don’t expect to hear much about the industry’s environmental toll.
TYPICAL CROWD Plant workers’ parents
KODAK MOMENT Pose
for photos in a bucket the size of a two-car garage. “We’ve put whole bus tours in there,” says tourism
director Helen Daymond.
TAKE-HOME MESSAGE Oil extraction can be fun! And our tractors are bigger than yours.

Matamoros Toxic Tour
Matamoros, Mexico
Brownsville, Texas
RUN BY Local activist Domingo Gonzalez
SIGHTS TO SEE Cross the Rio Grande to see poorly regulated Mexican factories making goods for US consumers.
TYPICAL CROWD Hardcore environmentalists
KODAK MOMENT Watch children scavenge in burning garbage dumps just yards from the US border.
TAKE-HOME MESSAGE NAFTA isn’t good news for everyone.