Sideling Hill Tunnel
From SeptemWiki
| County | Fulton |
| Length | 6,782 ft |
| SPRR length | 6,662 ft |
| Opened | 1 October 1940 (Opening of Turnpike) |
| Closed | 26 November 1968 |
Sideling Hill Tunnel is one of the Lost Tunnels of Septempontia. It was bypassed in 1968 along with Ray's Hill Tunnel and Cove Valley Service Plaza.
Sideling Hill was the longest of the seven original tunnels on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Like Ray's Hill, it has been used as a test facility for new highway innovations since being closed to public use.
Sideling Hill is the source of the name for the office of Sideling Herald.
Contents |
Closure
The tunnel closed on 26 November 1968 when the new alignment of the Turnpike opened, bypassing it and Ray's Hill Tunnel. The tunnel formed part of the STAR Facility. Because it is extremely dark in the tunnel, one of Sideling Hill's biggest uses was for testing the visibility of recessed reflectors.
In 2001, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission sold most of the abandoned Turnpike to the Southern Alleghenies Conservancy for $1, and the Tunnel became open to hikers and bicyclists.
Rediscovery
The first recorded visit to Sideling Hill Tunnel by Septempontians took place on 7 August 2004. The expedition included Shawn Knight, Alan Caum, Greg Gollinger, and Jackie Cipa. Caum and Gollinger, starting at the east portal, managed to penetrate the depths of the Tunnel sufficiently far as to see the light at the other end. Knight made the first documented attempt to bowl a cricket ball on the Turnpike, running out of the Tunnel and bowling to Gollinger.
The first Septempontian visit to the west portal took place on 13 March 2005 when Knight, Caum, Gollinger, and a non-Septempontian friend found the portal based on Brian Troutman's directions.
Visiting Sideling Hill
Since the abandoned Turnpike and Tunnels were purchased by the Southern Alleghenies Conservancy, visiting Sideling Hill has been very safe and completely legal.
If you are not concerned with visiting Cove Valley, the western portal is recommended, as there is less walk from a good parking place to the Tunnel.
The eastern portal (and Cove Valley Service Plaza)
Take the Turnpike to Breezewood (Exit 161). Take US-30 east from the exit. Go up the mountain (which is actually Ray's Hill) and continue until you see the signs for PA-915. The latter will come north (from the right) and multiplex with US-30 for a short distance. You will then come to an intersection where PA-915 turns off to the left, continuing north. Follow it.
You are now passing through Buchanan State Forest. After a few minutes, you will cross an overpass, going over the current Turnpike again. This area can be quite foggy at times, so be careful. Not long after you cross the Turnpike you will come to a fork in the road. PA-915 continues to the left; you should take the right fork. There is a sign indicating six miles to Hustontown in this direction.
Follow this local road. You will pass a sign indicating you are entering Taylor Township. There is one particularly nasty S-curve along the hillside, so watch your speed. You will be traveling with the current Turnpike to your right for much of the way. Eventually, you will come to a four-way intersection. Ahead of you, the road continues on as the access road for the modern-day Sideling Hill service plaza. Turn right, and pass immediately under the Turnpike. (Verify: this is Mt. Hess Road?)
A short while later, you will come to another four-way intersection. The primary direction is to head left (and again, there is signage indicating that one should go left towards Hustontown). Instead, go straight. The street sign marker at the intersection will inform you that this is Pump Station Road. Continue about half a mile and you will see another overpass; this is the abandoned Pike. Just before the overpass is what appears to be a driveway to the right; this is the access road for Cove Valley. Take it. (It is very narrow; if someone else is leaving Cove Valley as you're arriving, you may have a bit of a jam, but you can sort it out.)
Go up until you reach the jersey barriers and park on the small gravel patch to the right. (Before you reach the barriers, there is another turn-off to the right; this is a private road leading to someone's house. Do not park there.)
Walk around the jersey barriers. If you wish to cut through the trees to the left, you can get on the abandoned Pike directly, but be careful in so doing (the ground is very rough and there are intermittent pieces of old rusty fence). Instead, you can continue up the access road and you will emerge at the rear of the pavement at Cove Valley Service Plaza.
From there you can continue west down the abandoned Turnpike. The Tunnel is about 25 minutes from here on foot. You are advised not to wander far from the shoulder of the road, as you may be on private property (though unlike at Ray's Hill, there are not posted signs every few yards to alert you to this fact).
Once the portal is in full view ahead of you, you can find a pathway to the left (south) side of the road, which leads gently up the side of the hill. This is believed to be an old grade of the South Penn Railroad.
Following this path gives easy access to the ground above the Tunnel, from which you can see the back of the ventilation housing and, to the north, a fieldstone wall with a lovely little waterfall running down it from the Hill above.
The western portal
The western portal is located near Oregon Road which leads to the old Civilian Conservation Corps Oregon Camp. Oregon Road is gravel-covered and very uneven, so it can be hard on your car. There are two ways to access Oregon Road: from PA-915, which is recommended as it is less of a drive on the rough road, and from US-30, which though rougher is a great deal more scenic.
Via PA-915 (easier for the car)
Follow the directions for reaching the eastern portal, but do not turn off PA-915 at the intersection. Continue further north on PA-915 until you reach an intersection on the left, where a gravel road heads into the forest. This is Oregon Road. Turn left onto it.
You'll know you're in the right place when you see signs about the road being open to licensed motor vehicles and the like. Keep going until you reach the old Civilian Conservation Corps Sideling Hill Camp site. At the far end of the camp is another side road into the woods; there's a convenient place there for several cars to park.
At the camp, walk past the yellow gate (it says non-motorized traffic is welcome) and head up the hill. The path comes up to the embankment upon which the old Pike runs, and then heads left. Continue on up the path. You will pass (on the left) a "scary" old rundown shack. A few hundred feet later, the path reaches the old Pike, and the Tunnel is there in all its glory.
Via US-30 (more scenic)
Follow the directions for reaching the eastern portal until PA-915 meets US-30. As PA-915 comes north and meets US-30 from the right, there is a gravel road which heads to the left, suggesting a four-way intersection. Instead of continuing on PA-915/US-30, turn left and head up this gravel road.
You will pass under the current Turnpike and then come to a T-intersection. Do not take the left fork. It can be used to reach the eastern portal of Ray's Hill but it goes through aggressively posted private property. Take the right fork. This is Oregon Road.
Follow Oregon Road on down the hill. The road will run parallel and close to the abandoned Turnpike for some distance and you will have a number of opportunities to park the car and walk onto the old Pike, with the Pike being on your left.
Eventually, Oregon Road passes under the old Pike, and then resumes its parallel course, now with the Pike on your right. From here it is not much further before you reach the old Civilian Conservation Corps Sideling Hill Camp site, and the directions are as above, except the side road for convenient parking is at the near end of the camp, not the far end.
Walking through the tunnel
The first trip through the tunnel by Septempontians took place on 21 May 2005. A group of eight people (Septempontians and friends) walked through Sideling Hill both ways, as a mission of the First Expeditionary Force led by Major Greg Gollinger. The group started at the west portal, walked through the Tunnel, played some cricket at the east portal and explored Sideling Hill Falls, and then returned through the tunnel to the west portal.
Walking through Sideling Hill is not for the faint of heart, as it is over a mile long and very, very dark. Some visitors have reported bats in the tunnel at times, and it's always possible (though undocumented) that other wild animals might take refuge in the tunnel. Also, there's always small bits of broken glass or rusty metal laying around. For these reasons, you should wear durable footwear and carry reliable light sources.
On a visit in 2006 Greg and Shawn noticed extensive wear of the ceiling/floor which divides the tunnel proper from the ventilation space, and noted several places where crumbling concrete could cause a problem for someone walking beneath. The overall structure of the tunnel has been deemed perfectly safe by engineers hired for this purpose by its owners, but small portions of the "innards" could be loose and dangerous.
