Wrap-Up Notesįrom the East Trailhead parking area, this hike through the Blue Ridge Tunnel in Virginia took me 90 minutes to complete, including time reading up on its history. Your hike is complete at the 4.6-mile mark. The trail on the west side of the Claudius Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel (another name for the tunnel) winds through mature forest and is steep in some sections.įrom the West Trailhead in Waynesboro, re-trace your steps to the parking area for the East Trailhead in Afton. It’s a little up, a little down to the West Trailhead. From here, ascend the trail to the parking area at the 2.3-mile mark. From the west, the entrance is a stone-lined arch crafted by expert Irish stonemasons.Įxit the tunnel at the 1.5-mile mark. Note that as you enter the tunnel from the east, the entrance is more rocky. 9-mile through Afton Mountain by way of the Blue Ridge Tunnel. ![]() It gets quite cool inside this tunnel in the Shenandoah Valley, too. Be sure to bring a headlamp or a flashlight. 6-mile mark, you’ll see an award given to the Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.īecause this is a tunnel, it will inevitably get dark and there is no lighting inside the tunnel. This is the re-route to the larger tunnel that replaced the Blue Ridge Tunnel in 1944.īefore you enter the tunnel at the. On this hike, you will pass eight to ten placards on the history of the tunnel, including how it was built and what to know about chief engineer, Claudius Crozet.Īs you walk, you’ll notice active railroad track to the left of the hiking trail. Another educational placard turns up on the right side of the tunnel trail. These are all the same tunnel.Ĭontinue on and you will see three blue porta-potties on the left-hand side of the trail. East Trailhead (Afton)įrom the Blue Ridge Tunnel Trail parking area in Afton, stop at the large kiosk on the left marked “East Trailhead” for the history of the Blue Ridge Tunnel.īefore I go on, it’s worth noting that this tunnel is also referenced as the Crozet Tunnel Greenway and the Claudius Crozet Tunnel. For this hike, I started at the East Trailhead for easy parking and a flat approach to the tunnel. This trailhead has a dozen or so parking spaces and all are parallel parking spaces.īoth trailheads have porta-potties. The West Trailhead is located in Waynesboro, just off U.S. The East Trailhead in Afton has a large parking area. There are two trailheads for this out-and-back hike on a mostly gravel path. Restoration took place and the tunnel re-opened as a trail on November 21, 2020. A new tunnel was built and this tunnel was abandoned.ĬSX Transportation donated the Blue Ridge Tunnel to Nelson County in 2007. The tunnel was last used by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (later called CSX Transportation) in 1944. ![]() It was the longest railroad tunnel in the United States at 4,273 feet in length. The Blue Ridge Tunnel was built from 1850 to 1858 for the Blue Ridge Railroad. It’s minutes from the Rockfish Gap entrance at Shenandoah National Park. My friend, RVA Hiker Girl, hiked this when it opened in November 2020.įor those who’ve yet to complete this 4.6-mile out-and-back hike through a historic railroad tunnel in Central Virginia, I’ve got what you need to know.įor starters, the tunnel is located under Rockfish Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I may have been the last person to complete the Blue Ridge Tunnel hike in Nelson County.
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