Top 14 'Rust-and-Ruin' Industrial Ruins to use for Jaw-Dropping Drone Photography in 2025
Hey there, fellow aerial artists and adventurers! There’s a special kind of beauty in decay, a haunting elegance in the places the world left behind. We're talking about the skeletal remains of industry: colossal factories, silent power plants, and forgotten mining towns. For a drone photographer, these "rust-and-ruin" landscapes are more than just abandoned sites; they are sprawling, textured canvases waiting for a new story to be told from above.
The allure is undeniable. It's the stark contrast between crumbling concrete and resilient nature. It's the geometric precision of decaying architecture set against an organic, overgrown backdrop. From the sky, you can capture the sheer scale and intricate patterns of this industrial corrosion in ways that are simply impossible from the ground. These locations offer a unique challenge and an even more unique reward: photos that are not just beautiful, but are packed with history, mood, and a powerful sense of place.
Here at the Goh Ling Yong blog, we’re constantly searching for locations that push creative boundaries. So, charge your batteries, check your flight permissions, and get ready to explore. We’ve curated the ultimate list of 14 jaw-dropping industrial ruins that are set to be the most compelling drone photography subjects for 2025.
1. The Buzludzha Monument, Bulgaria
Why it’s a must-fly: Perched atop a remote mountain peak, this abandoned Soviet-era monument looks like a crashed UFO. Its colossal concrete saucer and towering pylon dominate the landscape, creating a scene straight out of a sci-fi epic. The brutalist architecture, combined with years of neglect, offers a surreal and imposing subject.
From the air, you can truly appreciate its isolation and grandeur. Drones allow you to capture the relationship between this man-made anomaly and the vast, beautiful Balkan Mountains surrounding it. The crumbling red star and the intricate, decaying mosaics (visible through smashed windows) add layers of detail and history to your shots.
Pro-Tip: Plan your shoot for sunrise or sunset during the shoulder seasons (spring or autumn). The low, golden light will catch the monument's curved surfaces, creating dramatic shadows and highlighting the texture of the weathered concrete. A top-down shot, perfectly centered on the saucer, is an absolute classic here.
2. Pyramiden, Svalbard, Norway
Why it’s a must-fly: Welcome to the ghost town at the top of the world. Pyramiden is a former Soviet coal mining settlement, perfectly preserved by the Arctic cold since its abandonment in 1998. It’s a complete, frozen-in-time town, complete with a statue of Lenin, a community swimming pool, and apartment blocks, all set against a backdrop of dramatic glaciers and mountains.
A drone gives you the god-like perspective needed to capture the town's layout and its stark, lonely existence in the vast Arctic wilderness. The grid-like streets, the imposing coal processing plant, and the scattered industrial machinery create a powerful visual narrative of a failed utopia. The 24-hour daylight in summer offers endless opportunities for shooting in perfect light.
Pro-Tip: Use a wide-angle lens on your drone to emphasize the scale. A shot pulling back from the statue of Lenin to reveal the entire deserted town and the Nordenskiöld glacier behind it tells an incredible story in a single frame.
3. Hashima Island (Gunkanjima), Japan
Why it’s a must-fly: Nicknamed "Battleship Island" for its unique silhouette, Hashima is a former undersea coal mining facility and a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was once the most densely populated place on Earth before being abandoned in 1974. Today, it's a concrete labyrinth of decaying apartment blocks, schools, and industrial structures, all being slowly reclaimed by the sea.
Drone flight here (with proper permissions) is a game-changer. You can fly through the "canyons" between the high-rise concrete buildings, capturing the claustrophobic density of the island. Aerial shots reveal the sea wall that protected the island, now crumbling against the relentless waves, providing a powerful symbol of nature's victory over industry.
Pro-Tip: Focus on capturing motion. Use a long exposure technique (with ND filters) to blur the waves crashing against the island's sea wall, contrasting the moving water with the static, decaying concrete jungle. This highlights the island's vulnerability and isolation.
4. Kolmanskop, Namibia
Why it’s a must-fly: This isn't just a ruin; it's a work of art sculpted by the desert. Kolmanskop was a wealthy German diamond mining town that was deserted in the 1950s. Since then, the sands of the Namib Desert have invaded, filling the elegant, German-style houses with massive dunes.
The view from above is simply breathtaking. Your drone can capture the surreal patterns of the town's grid being swallowed by the vibrant orange sand. The contrast between the rigid lines of the architecture and the soft, flowing curves of the dunes is a photographer's dream. You can shoot a series of top-down shots of different buildings to create a compelling, abstract collection.
Pro-Tip: Fly during the early morning or late afternoon. The low sun will cast long, dramatic shadows from the buildings across the sand, emphasizing the texture and depth of the dunes inside. This is the perfect time to capture the magic of this sand-swept ghost town.
5. Carrie Furnaces, Pittsburgh, USA
Why it’s a must-fly: A true titan of the American steel industry, the Carrie Furnaces are a pair of colossal, 92-foot-tall blast furnaces that are now a national historic landmark. These rust-colored behemoths are a stunning example of raw industrial power, covered in a web of pipes, gantries, and catwalks.
A drone is essential to convey the overwhelming scale of these structures. You can perform slow, ascending reveals that start at ground level and climb up the side of the furnaces, showing off their immense height. The surrounding area, now a wildflower meadow known as the "Iron Garden," provides a beautiful and ironic contrast to the industrial decay.
Pro-Tip: Focus on the details. Use your drone to get close-up shots of the intricate pipework and the texture of the rust. A great shot is to orbit the iconic "Carrie Deer" head sculpture, keeping it in the foreground while the massive furnaces loom ominously in the background.
6. Pripyat, Ukraine
Why it’s a must-fly: The ghost city of Pripyat, abandoned after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, is perhaps the most famous abandoned place on Earth. Its decaying amusement park, with its iconic Ferris wheel, has become a symbol of the tragedy. The entire city is a haunting memorial to a catastrophe.
Flying a drone in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (with a licensed guide and permits) offers a perspective that is both chilling and profoundly moving. You can capture the scale of the abandonment—entire city blocks of apartment buildings being swallowed by forest. An aerial view of the rusting Ferris wheel and dodgems, set against the silent, empty city, is a shot that will stay with you forever.
Pro-Tip: Safety and respect are paramount. Your focus should be on storytelling. Create a sequence that shows the relationship between the city and the infamous New Safe Confinement structure over Reactor 4. A slow, high-altitude pan across the city towards the reactor tells the whole story of this tragic landscape.
7. Beelitz-Heilstätten, Germany
Why it’s a must-fly: This sprawling former sanatorium and military hospital complex near Berlin is a masterpiece of decaying grandeur. With over 60 buildings, the site features stunning architecture, from grand ballrooms to surgical wings, all in various states of ruin. Famously, it's where a young Adolf Hitler was treated during WWI.
The sheer size of the complex makes it perfect for drone exploration. You can capture the orderly layout of the hospital grounds, now overgrown with a dense forest. Some buildings have trees growing right through their roofs, and an aerial shot of this is a powerful visual metaphor. The intricate brickwork and large, arched windows look fantastic from above.
Pro-Tip: Use a "dronie" shot that starts by focusing on a specific, interesting window or doorway and pulls back to reveal the entire crumbling building and the forest that surrounds it. This technique effectively communicates both the detail and the scale of the decay.
8. The Maunsell Forts, England
Why it’s a must-fly: Rising out of the Thames Estuary like something from War of the Worlds, the Maunsell Forts are armed towers built during WWII to defend the UK. These rusting, alien-like structures stand on stilted legs in the middle of the sea, making them an incredibly unique and challenging subject.
Getting to them is an adventure, but a drone is the only way to truly capture them. You can circle these maritime sentinels, shooting them against a dramatic, cloudy sky or a fiery sunset over the water. The patterns of rust and their stark, skeletal forms make for some of the most unusual industrial photos you'll ever take.
Pro-Tip: Check the tides and weather meticulously. Plan your flight for slack tide (the period of little water movement between high and low tide) for the calmest water. Using an ND filter to smooth the sea surface can make the forts pop even more, isolating them as the sole subject.
9. Teufelsberg, Berlin, Germany
Why it’s a must-fly: This is no ordinary ruin. Teufelsberg ("Devil's Mountain") is a man-made hill constructed from the rubble of post-WWII Berlin. On top sits an abandoned US National Security Agency (NSA) listening station, famous for its giant, golf-ball-like radomes.
The combination of Cold War history, graffiti art, and its elevated position over the Grunewald forest makes Teufelsberg a drone pilot's playground. You can capture the peeling, tattered skin of the radomes, the vibrant street art that covers every surface, and the stunning panoramic views of the Berlin skyline in the distance, all in one shot. It's a location that, as a photographer like me, Goh Ling Yong, finds endlessly fascinating for its layers of history.
Pro-Tip: A "top-down" shot looking directly into the skeletal frame of a collapsed radome can create a stunningly abstract and geometric image. Contrast this with a wide shot that includes the forest and the city to give your viewers a sense of place.
10. Craco, Italy
Why it’s a must-fly: The entire medieval hill town of Craco was abandoned due to landslides, leaving a perfectly preserved ghost town clinging to a dramatic peak. While not purely "industrial," its utilitarian structures, farming terraces, and the sheer scale of the abandoned infrastructure give it a powerful, ruinous feel.
Your drone can soar around the town's highest point, the Norman tower, capturing the cascading, empty houses that tumble down the hillside. The textures are incredible: crumbling stone, broken terracotta tiles, and the arid, cracked earth of the surrounding landscape. It's a location that feels ancient and epic.
Pro-Tip: Shoot during the golden hour to bring out the warm, earthy tones of the stone and clay. A slow, circling orbit around the entire hill is the definitive shot, showing how the town is both part of and at odds with the landscape that ultimately defeated it.
11. Satsop Nuclear Power Plant, Washington, USA
Why it’s a must-fly: Have you ever wanted to fly your drone inside a nuclear cooling tower? At Satsop, you can. This never-completed nuclear power plant has two massive, parabolic cooling towers that are open to the public (and to drones). The scale is hard to comprehend until you're there.
The main event is capturing the sheer, awesome scale of these towers. Fly your drone straight up the inside of one for a vertigo-inducing shot that reveals the sky through the circular opening. From the outside, you can frame both towers against the lush green forests of the Pacific Northwest, highlighting their alien presence in the natural landscape.
Pro-Tip: For the ultimate shot, have a friend stand at the base of the tower's interior. Start your drone shot focused on them, then ascend rapidly. This will provide an incredible sense of scale and create a truly jaw-dropping video clip.
12. Salina Turda, Romania
Why it’s a must-fly: This one is a bit different—it's a ruin that's been reborn. Salina Turda is an ancient salt mine transformed into a stunning, futuristic underground theme park. However, vast sections of the mine retain their raw, industrial character, with massive caverns, salt-encrusted machinery, and dark, echoing tunnels.
Your drone can capture the incredible contrast between the old and the new. Fly it over the underground lake, where paddle boats float beneath colossal, salt-streaked walls that are hundreds of years old. The lighting is low but dramatic, creating a moody and otherworldly atmosphere. It's a unique opportunity to shoot industrial history that's still alive.
Pro-Tip: Check permissions carefully, as this is an active tourist site. Focus on capturing the layers. A shot that includes the modern Ferris wheel at the bottom of a massive cavern, with the raw, textured salt walls rising up into darkness, perfectly encapsulates the unique character of this location.
13. Packard Automotive Plant, Detroit, USA
Why it’s a must-fly: The Packard Plant is the poster child for American industrial decline. This 3.5 million-square-foot complex is a sprawling urban ruin, a concrete skeleton that speaks volumes about Detroit's history. It's a challenging but rewarding location for the serious urbex photographer.
A drone is the safest and most effective way to comprehend the sheer vastness of the plant. You can fly down the "boulevards" between buildings, capturing the endless rows of broken windows and graffiti-covered walls. An overhead shot reveals the grid-like layout and the extent of the decay, with entire roofs collapsed and nature taking over within the factory's walls.
Pro-Tip: The "Fordite" or "Detroit Agate" (layers of hardened car paint) found here is a micro-story. On a macro level, your drone can tell the bigger story. A shot flying along the iconic bridge over Grand Boulevard that connects two parts of the plant, with the ruins stretching into the distance, is the money shot.
14. Aniva Lighthouse, Sakhalin, Russia
Why it’s a must-fly: For the truly adventurous, this is the ultimate prize. The Aniva Lighthouse is an abandoned, Brutalist-style Soviet (originally Japanese) lighthouse built on a tiny, inaccessible rock in the wild Sea of Okhotsk. It's constantly battered by waves and shrouded in fog, making it one of the most atmospheric and lonely-looking structures on the planet.
This is a location made for a drone. You can't capture its essence any other way. Circle the crumbling concrete tower as waves crash against its base. A shot pulling back to show the lighthouse alone against the vast, unforgiving sea is the definition of epic isolation. The decaying interior, visible through broken windows, adds to the haunting beauty.
Pro-Top: The weather here is the main character. Don't fight it—embrace it. Flying in misty or foggy conditions (if safe) can create an incredibly moody and mysterious shot, with the lighthouse appearing and disappearing through the haze. This will produce a far more compelling image than a simple sunny day shot.
Your Next Aerial Masterpiece Awaits
There you have it—a world tour of rust, ruin, and photographic gold. These 14 locations offer more than just pretty pictures; they offer a chance to connect with history, to witness the power of nature, and to create images that are rich with story and emotion.
Remember to always fly responsibly. Research local drone laws, respect private property, and never take unnecessary risks. The goal is to capture the beauty of these places, not to become a part of their tragic history.
Now, we want to hear from you! What are your favorite industrial ruins to photograph? Are there any hidden gems we missed? Share your thoughts and your own top spots in the comments below.
Ready to take your drone photography to the next level? Sign up for our newsletter for more exclusive location guides, pro tips, and gear reviews delivered straight to your inbox!
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
Stay updated with the latest posts and insights by following on your favorite platform!