Grand Theft Auto V is packed full of amazing content, added to year after year by the great team at Rockstar. However, a lot of players get consumed by the money element of Online, buying fast cars, businesses, and big guns. Often, we forget about the cool places in GTA 5 and do not take a minute and appreciate the world that has been built around us since the game’s inception on September 17, 2013 (I know, I feel old too).
Even now, 10 years later I find that I’m still finding locations in Grand Theft Auto V that I have seemingly never seen before. Get in your fastest car or bike, because here at WhatIfGaming we’ve decided to help you get back out there exploring the vast world of Los Santos.
Without further ado, from the beautiful to the weird, let’s run through the 8 coolest places in GTA 5 you MUST visit right now!
Secret Mine Shaft
Location: Great Chaparral, Lost Santos County
Who doesn’t love exploring dangerous and mysterious hidden locations, especially when you can do so from the comfort of your couch? Up in the Great Chaparral hills, you might stumble upon an abandoned mine shaft, locked away behind a door, but with the help of a few explosives, you might just be able to break your way in.
The mineshaft is one of the largest and most interactive secret locations in Grand Theft Auto V, as to gain entry you’ll need to use explosives, such as an RPG, or a gun powerful enough to blow it open, like the Rail Gun. Furthermore, once inside you’ll find several secret items. Inside, among the rail tracks, weaving turns, and abandoned tools, is the body of a character named Isaac. Isaac, an actor who worked for the fictional Fred’s Pictures, was murdered over a filming dispute in 1947.
Once you find Isaac and the accompanying film canister reading “Richards Majestic Productions“, you’ll solve the Isaac Murder Mystery, unlocking two Noir filters for the Snapmatic for the protagonists to view from their cell phones.
The dark and claustrophobic atmosphere of the mine, is a truly mystifying and scary experience, something every player should explore at least once.
Heavily Armed Cave Bunker
Location: Found on the Islands in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Los Santos
GTA 5 players rarely have a reason to get out of the wild waves of the ocean surrounding the Island of Los Santos. Get stealing a speed boat, because you’re going to want to head straight to this crazy secret cave bunker found on a set of tiny islands off the coast of Los Santos.
You’ll know you’ve found the right Island when you come across a set of two trees positioned next to each other. Once under these trees, you’ll be teleported underground to this easter-egg location. Inside you’ll find a host of FIB agents armed to the teeth, with weapons, armor, and vehicles displayed all around the bunker. This one likely requires a mod that allows no-clipping through objects to access.
If you’re a fan of secret easter-egg hunting, this is a must-visit location in Grand Theft Auto V.
Secret Lab
Location: Fort Zancudo
Now, this is a location within a location. Fort Zancudo is one of the coolest places in GTA 5, with it being host to a plethora of game theories and mysteries surrounding GTA Aliens. If you visit this location at 3:00 AM (in-game time) you’ll witness a UFO hovering above the Fort Zancudo base.
However, for many years players have theorized that Fort Zancudo was hiding something deep underground, as there are elevators that can be seen to go up and down, yet no player was able to enter wherever they seemingly went. However, with the power of mods, players have recently been able to no-clip through the bottom of the elevator, accessing and confirming the existence of an underground lab beneath Fort Zancudo. The lab is host to several levels and items such as blueprints and even a nuclear bomb.
Again, for this location, you’ll need to install any mod that enables flying and no-clipping through objects. Once done you’ll be able to marvel at this bizarre Rockstar easter-egg.
Bolingbroke Penitentiary
Location: Grand Senora Desert, Los Santos County
You’ve probably not considered the important role that Bolingbroke penitentiary plays in Grand Theft Auto V, it is host to both Online and Story missions. Following the Heists update, the mission “Prison Break” was added to GTA Online, involving a daring adventure to break out Maxim Rashkovsky. As part of The Diamond Casino Heist, players have to break into the prison once again to steal a Diamond Casino vault key card, with the added element of having to steal a prison bus and disguise themselves as a guard. But you’re not done there, for the Los Santos Tuners Update, players must once again break into the prison to assassinate several targets. However, in the story mode, you’ll mainly visit the prison to experience a single random encounter with a Stranger.
However, this location is great to explore outside of the several Online missions available. As this location is packed full of NPCs, such as guards, there is endless fun to be had. Either break in, kill all the guards and “free” the prisoners. Or simply sneak your way around to explore this vast location.
Either way, you’re bound to have endless fun here, alone or with your friends!
Mount Chiliad
Location: Blaine County
Sometimes it’s nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life (players hell-bent on killing you). If that just resonated with you, you need to head to Mount Chiliad right now. Most players will know about this beautiful mountain location, with it being a hotspot for off-road racing among many players. However, recently it has become an underrated location within GTA Online.
Like Fort Zancudo, Mount Chiliad is home to many UFO sightings and many mysteries. But, being the largest mountain in the entirety of Grand Theft Auto V, it is unrivaled in the amazing view you get. And once you’re bored looking at the beautiful wilderness of Los Santos, launch your vehicle of choice straight down the mountain, trying to dodge every rock and tree as you go. Hell, why not try and see if you can drift the entire way down the mountain?
Bleeding Haunted House
Location: Upper Los Santos
The bleeding house is a bit of an odd easter-egg, located in the upper section of Los Santos city, you’ll find a white two-story house, that looks pretty much like any other NPC house throughout all of Los Santos. If you didn’t take a moment to shoot at this specific building, you’d be none-the-wiser that it is home to one of GTA’s more obscure easter-eggs
Once you’ve found the house in question, if you shoot the windows or the ground around it, it’ll bleed as if it was a player. Rockstar has a history of obscure and bizarre easter eggs, like the similar, Blood House located in Grand Theft Auto IV’s Liberty City. Here, you’ll observe a blood stain on the wall, that some say resembles a rat’s face. Perhaps, the bleeding house in GTA 5 is a reference to this older easter egg, or a game developer gone rogue.
Either way, this is a location everyone should visit and experience at least once throughout their time in Los Santos.
Sewer Tunnels
Location: East-Side Los Santos
If you’ve played through the entirety of Grand Theft Auto V’s Story mode, you’ll be well aware of this massive location. The sewer tunnels feature prominently early into GTA V’s story, and they’re memorable. But for those that have not played through the story, you may not even know these tunnels exist at all.
The sewer tunnels have two major entrances around the map, the Diamond Casino and the major highway bridge in the center of Los Santos City, this one is near a cab company. So, as you can imagine these tunnels are huge and are even full of NPCs working away underground. It is a great location for racing, or avoiding the law, as you’ll lose your wanted level extremely quickly down in the tunnels. This could be a great location to test the speed of a new bike or car, or even practice some rather sketchy drifting.
El Gordo Lighthouse
Location: North-East San Andreas
Concluding our list of cool places in GTA 5, after all this excitement you’re going to want to end the day on a relaxing note down by the water, and there is no better place than the El Gordo Lighthouse! Found on the east coast of San Andreas, in an area known commonly as the Cape Catfish, you’ll find a traditional Lighthouse perched upon a rock out in the middle of the water.
Surrounded by mountains and by the local rural town of Grapeseed, there is plenty to explore. Simply relax, boat your way down the river out into open water, or even parachute from the very top of the lighthouse.
Either way, this is a tranquil and beautiful location in San Andreas, and perhaps one of the most underrated locations.
