Find the closest documented cave, mine, or tunnel to any point in the US, the classic fallout shelter candidates.
How this tool works
Enter your city, ZIP code, or coordinates, or use your GPS position with one click (processed in your browser, never stored). The tool searches 1,267 documented underground sites across the United States, natural caves, mines, and tunnels, the categories emergency preparedness guides point to as potential fallout shelter when nothing better is available. The closest site is shown with its type, distance, and compass direction, plus the five next-closest, all plotted on the map with Google Maps links.
What you can do with it
- See which documented caves, mines, and tunnels are closest to your home
- Compare site types: natural caves, historic mines, and road or rail tunnels
- Explore how unevenly underground sites are spread across the country
- Use it as a starting point for preparedness research, not as an emergency plan
Why use it
Survivalist guides list caves, mines, and tunnels state by state as natural fallout shelter candidates. This turns that idea into an actual distance calculation from verifiable location data.
Data sources and methods
- Wikidata (community-maintained, CC0 licensed location data)
Coverage note: This is an educational curiosity, not emergency guidance. Many listed sites are closed, gated, privately owned, flooded, or unsafe, and official guidance in a radiological emergency is to shelter in the most protective building you can reach immediately (see ready.gov), not to travel to a distant site.