Earlier this spring a friend asked me if I'd want to take a mountain bike ride with him that included traveling almost four miles underground. The answer I gave him was as emphatic a yes as I get when asking my wife if she wants to go for a double scoop ice cream at Lone Oak. Then he mentioned that this place was nearly a ten hour drive away, and after the slightest of hesitations my answer was still the same. Let's do it.
In 1968 a 13-mile section of Interstate 76 in Pennsylvania was carved off and rerouted around two mountains, which up until that point it had tunneled through. The interstate was a four-lane highway but reduced to a mere two lanes each time it entered a mountain, then opened back to four lanes when emerging the other side. Many would ask why a highway was built in such a curious way, however this interstate didn't start life as something cars were meant to drive on. It was originally constructed as part of "Vanderbilt's Folly", a reference to the over-ambitious and unfinished railroad construction attempted by William Vanderbilt in the late 1800's. And having been built for a railroad, these re-purposed train tunnels were never wide enough to be part of a major highway. So although a novelty to drive through in the early years, as traffic increased these bottle-neck entrances had commuters screaming for a fix.
A total of seven problem tunnels existed throughout the turnpike, and in an attempt to salvage them several were widened, or "twinned", to increase them from two to four lanes. This eliminated the bottle-necks for the tunnels it was performed on, and we actually drove through one of them one our trip down.
However, this proved too costly a solution and the decision was made to scrap the remaining three tunnels and build new interstate around them. One of the bypassed sections of road, which contains two of the tunnels, later became known as the Pennsylvania Abandoned Turnpike. Over the years it has become a destination for adventurers eager to make a journey underground. In fact it became so popular among bicyclists that control over nine miles of this bypassed section, including both tunnels, were given to a local cycling group, and today cyclists from near and far make the pilgrimage to Pennsylvania to ride the abandoned highway.
We made our own pilgrimage in June of this year. Our hotel room was conveniently located just a quarter-mile down the road, so we biked from our front door to where these cement barriers opened the way to our journey.
We rode the first few minutes in awe at how much nature had taken over this four-lane highway. The middle barrier was overgrown to the point we sometimes couldn't even see the gravel on the opposite side.
Between running and bicycling I've spent many years exploring new and different places, but I cannot think of a more beautiful sight than what greeted us a couple miles down the road. We came around a bend and there in the distance was Ray's Hill Tunnel.
Arriving at the entrance, we spent a good 10 minutes wandering around and taking pictures of its mammoth opening.
And listening to the hoots and hollers of tunnel-dwellers within.
Inside was a cold, wet, and dark world where we occasionally passed other hikers and cyclists. In the light of day encountering these same people was a friendly experience, but underground - where you can hear them but not really see them - everyone is a potential ax murderer. I'd find myself giving a quick "hey" into the darkness, then moments later peeking over my shoulder to make sure they weren't coming to "get" me.
3,500 feet later we triumphantly emerged out the other side, having conquered our first tunnel. We spent some time climbing and exploring the framework ...
... and admiring all the graffiti, which is plentiful at each entrance.
Once we were moving again it was perhaps three miles until we reached the longest of the seven original tunnels, Sideling Hill. At 6,662 feet in length this monster blasted cool air over us long before we actually reached it. Riding through was similar to the first one except it's so long we couldn't even see the exit light in the distance. And there was also a moment where two motorized buggies (against the rules but fine with us) came buzzing by in the dark. I could easily have believed I was in a Mad Max post-apocalyptic world at that moment.
Beyond Sideling Hill the road ended abruptly where the old interstate connects to the new section. We had completed our journey - or half of it, at least. We still had to ride back. And although the return was anticlimactic at times, the tunnels were just as fascinating the second time through.
We ended the day on the balcony of our hotel room looking out over the rolling Pennsylvania hillside, where we had some celebratory beer, retold the stories of that day, and talked about where we would be going on next year's adventure.
And wondering, how would we ever be able to top this one?
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