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 Natural Tunnel State Park - Virginia Posted by:  fatcat161
N 36° 42.102 W 082° 44.895
17S E 343835 N 4063205
Natural Tunnel is located 5 miles south of Duffield. The tunnel passes through Purchase Ridge.
Waymark Code: WM6E63
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 05/20/2009
Views: 10
?The creation of Natural Tunnel began more than a million years ago in the early glacial period when groundwater bearing carbonic acid percolated through crevices and slowly dissolved surrounding limestone and dolomite bedrock. Then, what is now Stock Creek was probably diverted underground to continue carving the tunnel slowly over many centuries. The walls of the tunnel show evidence of prehistoric life, and many fossils can be found in the creek bed and on tunnel walls.
Park Type: Overnight
Activities:
picnic, camping, trails, hiking, biking, RV camping, swimming, chairlift
Background:
Daniel Boone was probably among the first men of European descent to see the tunnel in that the tunnel lies along the original route he took westward. However, no one wrote of it until Lt. Col. Stephen H. Long explored the site in 1831 and published an article in a geology journal in 1832. The areas near the tunnel were mined for saltpeter during the Civil War. In 1890 the South Atlantic and Ohio Railroad arrived and, making use of the natural formation, laid tracks through the tunnel. In 1906 Southern Railway acquired the tracks and created a passenger line, the Natural Tunnel Line, which went through the tunnel. Large coal deposits were discovered in the area shortly thereafter, and although they no longer carry passengers, trains continue to this day to carry coal through Natural Tunnel.
Date Established?: 1971
Link to Park: [Web Link]
Park Fees: Not listed
Additional Entrance Points: Not Listed
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