Hidden Tunnels of Dover (And where to find them)

How many of us go about our lives never noticing all the fascinating and unique things around us, because we're just too caught up with life. We bring the kids to school, work all day, go shopping on the weekends, and all the while there are treasures just waiting to be noticed, if only we'd put down our phones long enough to go look for them. I'm talking about myself as much as anyone here, of my recent fascination with balancing my digital life with my real life, and of my quest to peel back the layers on everything interesting within our communities.

In the past couple years this has brought me to many interesting places, and although there are different degrees to just how secret each one of these tunnels is, I've lived in Dover the past 20 years and it wasn't until the last couple that I knew a single one of them existed. That's off the beaten path enough for me to call each one of them hidden.

How many of them can you name?

Walking Tunnel Below the Spaulding Turnpike

Here's a perfect example of taking the path - or in the case the road - less traveled. On a recent bike ride I was rounding the corner between Knox Marsh and Littleworth Roads, and on a whim took the long way through a side neighborhood I'd never traveled. Where the road dead-ended a paved walkway disappeared into the trees, and that's where I found this tunnel passing underneath the Spaulding Turnpike and into a neighborhood off Silver Street. A nice little walk for local residents, a couple of whom I passed along the way, and since it doesn't take much to excite me, after riding it back and forth I returned that weekend to show my wife and make her pose for this picture.
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Blackwater Brook Tunnel

Making a visit to this tunnel is not for the feint of heart, but for anyone not afraid of learning the true meaning of the term bushwhacking, it's definitely worth the visit. Follow the path on a map that the former Newington Branch Railway once traveled to the north, and you'll find where it crossed over the Blackwater Brook. Put on your boots and make the nearly half-mile hike from Pickering Road to this location, and you'll find how the former railway crossed over the Blackwater Brook. This beautiful arched tunnel stands alone in those woods, continuing to do its job even though nobody is watching. My wife had to perform double-duty on this day, first enduring the bushwhack and then posing for my picture once again.
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Community Trail Tunnel Below Silver Street

I'm guessing this is the most commonly known of the bunch, but in the words of my thirteen year old son it's also one of the coolest. We've all traveled over Silver Street at one point or another, but how many of you have traveled under it? If you haven't, I highly recommend taking a walk along the downtown portion of Dover's Community Trail, bringing you underneath Silver Street in this long metal tube, which if you're like my wife will make you immediately start singing.
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Cow Tunnel Behind Measured Progress?

I will stop to look at anything that catches my eye, and while walking the Watson Road portion of the Dover Community Trail I found myself climbing down the embankment to look at what I assumed was a culvert, one of many that line this section of former railbed. This one was extremely large however, and I called back up to my wife that I'll be darned but it almost looked like a cow tunnel. After taking several moments trying to figure out if I was punking her, she humored me and asked what's a cow tunnel. Back when much of New England was a farming community and railroads often came cutting through, people would sometimes need ways to safely get their livestock from one side of the tracks to the other. Hence what is commonly referred to as a cow tunnel.

Knowing there are several confirmed ones throughout New England, I wrote to the NH Division of Historical Resources with pictures of it, and after exchanging several nice emails with coordinator Peter Michaud he felt that given the size and location there was a pretty good chance this was indeed another one. Of course this is based strictly on information I provided him, he has not seen it for himself, so rather than put him on the hook for any claims I make, I'll leave it with a question mark and a hope; that someone more knowledgeable than I am will someday learn more about it.
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Honorable Mention - Stone Railroad Tunnel

As much as I wanted this one to be part of the official list, it's not a place people should be visiting (do as I say, not as I do) so I cannot give its location. But it is in Dover, and it is very picturesque.

That is my list, but I'm certain there are others around town that are as impressive as these, or even more so. For example, haven't we all heard stories about old houses and buildings that have secret tunnels leading underneath roads or to other buildings? I like to think that not all of those stories are urban legends.

I also like to think that one day I'll find myself standing inside one of them.