50 Times People Found Something Wild And Unexpected While Strolling Through The Forest

Close your eyes and picture the deep, green, musty forest. You can almost feel it soaking up your anxiety and slowing down your rushing thoughts, soothing your soul and body. No wonder so many of us have a deep fascination with forests.

Woods are also among the most mysterious places. They never cease to capture our imagination, from early childhood days spent roaming there carelessly to watching horror movies about haunted forests (who needs a reminder about The Blair Witch Project?).

So no wonder there’s this impression that the only other place where what happens in there stays there, apart from Vegas, is the forest. And the collection of pictures below puts that into perspective. Scroll down through the craziest, weirdest, and most question-inducing discoveries people made while talking a walk out in the woods, and let us know if you too have seen something unusual there in the comments.

Psst! More bizarre and fascinating forest findings can be found in our previous feature here.

#1 Forest Huntress

“We grow up hearing stories about the dangers of the forest – in fairy tales, the forest is the place where the witches and wolves lurk, the place where little children get lost and get into trouble,” Lauren McMenemy, a south London-based writer of gothic-influenced folk horror who is currently working on a novel set in the world of the Victorian occult, told We. She was happy to share some insights into our endearing fascination with deep dark woods, so scroll down to see what she said below.

#2 An Albino Moose In The Forest

#3 Found A Cool Tree In My Local Park And Felt Like It Needed Some Magic

#4 Came Across Some Dinosaurs In The Woods

“Forests and woodlands are full of intrigue; it’s a totally different world to the urban life many of us now lead. When we see trees in cities, they are carefully placed in a curated landscape, often as a way to distract us from the concrete jungle we live in. In forests, though, nature rules,” McMenemy, who is a professional writer, journalist, and experienced writing coach, argues.

“It’s wild, it’s unruly, and anything could be lurking there. To a certain sort of personality, that is captivating,” she explained.

#5 I Found This Carved Fox Inside A Tree Stump, In A Forest Close To My Home

#6 The Sculptures Are All Made Of Twig And Twine. They’re Mostly Tucked Away Off The Main Paths, So If You Don’t Know They’re There, You Might Walk Right Past Them

#7 Yes, She Found A Wild Mushroom In The Forest. No, She Didn’t Eat Part Of It, She’s Just Always A Derp

Meanwhile, in folklore and fantasy, forests represent places unknown, the place beyond the safety of home, McMenemy argues. “They are the liminal spaces – the spaces in between – where transformation can occur. Forests can be a place of threatening danger, or one of refuge, depending on the story.”

The writer continued: “There could be more to it than a warning, though; many pagan cultures are strongly connected to nature, and forests or woodlands were places of worship. Perhaps as Christianity spread, the tales of forest-dwellers became parables?”

#8 A Buddy Of Mine Found This Dinosaur While On A Hike The Other Day

#9 This Tower We Found In An Irish Forest Looks Like Something Out Of A Fairytale

#10 A Forest Dining Room

“As humanity once again wakes up to the importance of nature to our lives and our climate,” McMenemy told us, “I fervently hope the forest becomes a sacred place again. There is so little true, thick woodland and forest left in the world, yet these are the places where our imagination comes alive,” she concluded.

#11 An Old Jacket Hanging In The Woods With A Bird’s Nest Built In The Pocket

#12 This Wooden Throne In An English Woodland

#13 Out For A Walk, Found In The Middle Of A Forest

Tragically, the world’s forests have been shrinking at an increasingly rapid rate since the last ice age. According to the data by the World Economic Forum, once humans figured out how to cultivate plants and livestock for regular sources of food, they needed land to use.

For centuries, the loss of greenery was relatively slow. By 1800, the world had lost 700 million hectares each of forest and grassland, replaced by around 900 million hectares of land for grazing animals and 400 million hectares for crops. But industrialization in the 1800s rapidly sped up the process.

#14 Igor Hit The Jackpot, And That’s Why Jogging Is Good, Kids

#15 This Random Chandelier Left Hanging In The Forest

#16 Keeper Of The Woods

#17 Massive Abandoned Sanatorium I Found In A German Forest

While half of Earth’s loss of forests occurred from 10,000 years ago to 1900, the other half or 1.1 billion hectares have been lost since 1900. Part of this loss, about a whopping 100 million hectares, has occurred in the more recent time period of 2000 to 2018.

In that sense, humanity’s destruction of nature and ecosystems is a result of very recent population growth and increasing consumption. Experts have calculated that today, the world has lost one-third of its forests. Globally we deforest around ten million hectares of forest every year. That’s an area the size of Portugal every year. Around half of this deforestation is offset by regrowing forests, so overall we lose around five million hectares each year.

#18 Found A Little Faerie Door In The Woods

#19 This Abandoned Ship In The Middle Of A Forest

#20 Eerily Humanoid Shapes On This Tree

#21 A Creepy Little Christmas Tree Fully Decorated In The Middle Of The Woods. Powered By What Looked Like Mini Solar Panels

#22 I Have No Good Explanation For This. Found Three Hours Into A Deep Forest, 20ft In The Air, And Impaled On A Tree. Hours Away From Major Roads

#23 Came Upon A Stained Glass Window Hanging In A Forest In Belgium

#24 Pass Under The Stairs To Nowhere, Then Turn Around Three Times, To Find Yourself Right Where You Need To Be. His Is In Madame Sherri Forest In West Chesterfield, NH

#25 Just Going For A Little Hike

#26 I Found A Plant-Based, Man-Made “Acorn” Hanging In The Middle Of The Woods

#27 Skull Looking Rock In The Middle Of The Forest

#28 I Found A Deer In A Makeshift Hut In The Woods

#29 This Guy I Found In The Woods, About 11ft Tall

#30 Steam Engine Left In The Forest. Ontario Canada

#31 So I Was Walking In A Forest Near My City And Found This

#32 Found A Random Painting In The Middle Of The Woods

#33 Found A Cougar Skull In The Woods

#34 Piano In The Woods

#35 Found This Gnome Town On A Walk In The Woods Today

#36 This Creepy Paper-Mache Family I Found While Walking In The Forest

#37 A Cast Iron Cauldron I Found Buried In My Forest

#38 I Was Walking In The Forest And Noticed That Some Plastic Was Sticking Out From Under A Rock. I Find It A Bit Eerie Since I Still Was On My Dad’s Property

#39 This Super Mario Pipe In The Woods In New Hampshire

#40 Sleeping Bus In A Japanese Forest

#41 Clean-Cut Stone In A Swedish Forest

#42 Doorknob On A Tree In The Middle Of The Woods

#43 Random Old Chimney And Fireplace In The Middle Of The Woods. Found Off The Trail While Fishing In Northwest Pennsylvania

#44 This Small-Scale Railway In The Forest

#45 My Friend Has The Theory That If I Laid Down I Would Wake Up In The Hole In The Middle Of The Woods Every Night Like A Curse, And Keep Coming Back

#46 Old Shoes In The Forest Turned To Moss

#47 I Found An Old Abandoned Cottage N The Woods

#48 An Ordinary Photo Of Some Lost Items In The Woods

#49 A RuneScape Player With Low Cooking Made This

#50 In The Woods

#51 This Tree Broke This Rock And Kept Growing

#52 An Actual Pet Cemetery In The Woods

#53 These Steps I Found While Hiking Are Carved Out Of A Fallen Tree

#54 This Gravestone I Found In The Woods

#55 A Random Abandoned Mausoleum In The Middle Of The Woods

#56 Just Strolling Through Kielder Forest, UK

#57 When Walking In The Woods And Finding The Exit Of The Matrix

#58 There Is A Plane In The Middle Of The Forest In Oregon

#59 There Are Abandoned Bunkers In Lithuania. They Look So Surreal In The Middle Of A Forest

#60 Abandoned Fireplace In The Forest

#61 While Cycling Through The Forest I Found This Old-Looking Wood Carving

#62 Beautiful House In The Woods That Was Abandoned

#63 Found This While Walking My Dog In The Woods. Someone Put A Lot Of Time Into Making This

#64 NC Mountains

#65 Anyone Lose A Camera Say, I Don’t Know, Maybe 80 Years Ago Down At Eagle Creek? I Think We May Have Found Ansel Adams 1st Camera

Obviously, we were in a spot not many people have been. Down a high steep slope next to the creek!! My homie Ethan found it almost completely buried! And it still has a film in it!

#66 Geodesic Dome In The Woods With Dry Stone Surround

Kind of a sci-fi sort of vibe, when you’re walking through the woods and happen on this. Great acoustics inside.

#67 Walking In The Woods And Came Across This Building With A Whole Wall Made From Old Wooden Doors

#68 This Payphone In The Middle Of The Woods

#69 Tall View Of A Tree Besieged By Woodpeckers And Termites

#70 An Old 8 Ball Found Deep In A Forest

#71 My Friend Found A Tiny Tree House In The Forest

#72 Found On A Hike Through The Woods In The Middle Of Nowhere, West Virginia. Nothing Else Around, No Buildings Anywhere

#73 Someone Hid A Bunch Of Little Plastic Dinosaurs Amongst The Trees On A Hiking Trail

#74 An Abandoned Piano In The Forest

#75 Was Out Foraging In My Local Woods Today, And I Wandered Off Down A Long Overgrown Path I’d Never Followed Before

This rather unsettling padlocked door freaked me out a bit.

#76 The Things You Find In A Forest

#77 Found This Weird Underground Door In The Woods. Thank God It Was Daylight

#78 I Love The Cool Stuff You Find In The Woods

#79 I Found A Bomb While On A Hike

#80 Found A Boat In The Woods. Well, Half A Boat

#81 Found In The Woods

#82 Found This Big Structure Hiking In The Woods. Big Square Cement Tower, About 3 Stories Tall, Inside Had Metal Ladder To The Top With A Small Seat And Window. What Is?