Why walk through an almost mile-long, dark, dank, slippery, cold tunnel? Because it is there!

In 2020, the Blue Ridge Tunnel, AKA Claudius Crozet Tunnel, is a historic engineering landmark now open to the public. It was built in the 1850s with black powder and pickaxes under the Blue Ridge Mountains (Rockfish Gap) Nelson County to Albemarle County.

The 2.2-mile trail is now a wide, crushed limestone surface connecting the East Trailhead in Afton to the West Trailhead near Waynesboro. The approach from the east is a very gentle and easy walk but the approach from the west is challenging and steep.

Take a headlamp and spare light source in case the first runs out of battery during the long walk both ways. The interior surface is mostly smooth but the edges have an abrupt fall-off in places.