I walked through the tunnel about a year ago. A lot of people brought their
dogs and their eyes glowed yellow from all the flashlights. Would be a great
place for a Haunted Halloween attraction.Ken
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On Friday, October 14, 2022, 8:14 AM, Gary Gunuskey <poppyscuda@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Great pictures. Thanks for sharing. Gary
On Mon, Oct 10, 2022, 5:40 PM dave.garlock <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Good afternoon –
Wonderful day trip this past Saturday to experience the 170 year old Blue Ridge
Crozet Tunnel located just of I-64 West at Exit 99 (Afton/Waynesboro).
As most know, between 1850 and 1858, there was a massive effort to drill 4
tunnels through the Blue Ridge Mountains at Rockfish Gap by the State owned
railroad that was done by hand and with unreliable gunpowder. Was operational
from 1858 to 1944 when replaced by a wider and taller tunnel just a few hundred
yard away. Today, the tunnel has been restored as part of a walking path by
Nelson County that is accessible from either the east or west side. It takes
about 30 minutes to walk the tunnel from one end to the other. Really cool
inside (55 degrees) and damp. Part of walls on west end on brick lined but
about 2/3’s is solid granite. At one spot there is a free flowing spring
coming through the wall. There is a cinder track bed which slopes down to
drainage on both sides. No artificial lighting. Bring your flashlight.
For modelers the entrances are not typical as photographs will show. West side
portal is more traditional except differently shaped with a narrower capstone
area as seen in first three photos while East Side is wider at the top cut from
the rock. In the fourth photo I tried to capture the spring in the middle of
the tunnel. The fifth photo is looking down the hill on the east side to the
C&O tracks.
If you can and are able, I recommend the trip. Wear a coat and a hat, lots of
drips from above.
East side may be easy to access as west side is about a 1 mile trail with 19
degree climb up and down the hills. On the east side you can see the C&O tracks
while on the west side there is a tall embankment. While we were there we
heard and saw about one dozen motorized MOW vehicles heading east toward
Crozet. Had never seen the new MOW equipment before.
Dave Garlock
