After issuing the exploration challenge to my fellow members of the U.S.S. Calypso to visit the Blue Ridge Tunnel, I made sure to visit the location myself back in December.
To quote the Nelson County website:
The Blue Ridge Tunnel was constructed between 1850 and 1858 beneath Rockfish Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia. CSX Transportation generously donated the tunnel to Nelson County in 2007.
~ NelsonCounty.com | Blue Ridge Tunnel – VISIT NELSON COUNTY
The tunnel is located at the convergence of the southern entrance of the Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive, the northern entrance of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Appalachian Trail, and U.S. Bicycle Route 76. Both Interstate 64 and U.S. 250 cross over the tunnel at Rockfish Gap.
Traveling through the long, dark tunnel will be a stirring experience for a variety of visitors from across the Commonwealth and beyond: hikers and cyclists of every level, wildlife watchers, history enthusiasts, railroad buffs, heritage tourists, school children on field trips, and nearby residents.
It’s a place I’ve visited previously, BUT never since it has been opened all the way through.
Last time I saw this location was back when there were two walls inside it blocking passage.
And I even remember getting lost once when approaching it from the east time.
Of course, that was before construction for the greenway / hiking project surrounding it began.
Now it’s a smooth and level easy trek from the parking area to the site of the tunnel.
On arrival, the parking spaces were overflowing with cars with me lucking out as one family was leaving as I was pulling in.
Folks socially distance along the way with me taking time to enjoy the informational signs along the way — signs sharing the story of the tunnel’s construction before the Civil War as well as it’s history since.
The hike to the tunnel was around 0.75 miles with passage through the tunnel one way just under a mile.
Word of warning as was told to me …. Make sure to take a flashlight as it DOES get dark in there and you’ll need it for safety reasons in addition to having a way to see the features along the way.
Most fun and unexpected part of the adventure for me was when a singing group followed my into the tunnel.
I let them pass grabbing a quick video clip for others to enjoy what I experienced as I followed them most of the distance towards the far end.
Encourage you to watch the video with audio on as the acoustics sounded wonderful.
Although out of shape, this adventure ranks high on my list as IS one I plan to repeat.
Made sure to take a photograph with the ship’s colors …. although I realized we need a smaller flag for such adventures so that it isn’t too large for the photograph!
And should also be noted that this was NOT our chapter’s first visit to the tunnel as several of us visited previously and Brittany visited this time around before I did!
Does that mean we can claim it as our own? Maybe I should have taken the Klingon flag as a sign of our conquest!
A reason to return!!!