News of the newly opened and restored Blue Ridge Tunnel near Afton, Virginia, was reason enough to for my wife and I to load up the bicycles onto the back of Coach and ramble over the mountain for a fun afternoon. The weather had turned much cooler, but we were prepared. We parked at the East Trailhead and were off and pedaling. My wife wasn’t crazy about the rail bed surface after a large rain, so we only biked to the entrance of the tunnel. At the entrance, we parked our bikes and walked through the tunnel.
The tunnel was built in the mid-1800s, but appears to be in great shape. We didn’t study much history on the tunnel before we went, but It has given us something to look up now. The wind was blowing through the tunnel from west-to-east, so the wind cold blowing into our faces going through. Coming back wasn’t so cold since the wind was to our backs.
The light at the other end of the tunnel could be seen the entire time in the tunnel, but a flashlight is definitely needed. It was a cold Monday after Thanksgiving, but we saw several groups of people in the 1-2 hours we spend there. If you happen to be in Central Virginia, it is an easy path to walk or bike. It appears to be handicap accessible as well. The next time I am over there, I will hike or bike from the West end.