Nada Tunnel is a historic long tunnel along

Kentucky Route 77 Kentucky Route 77 (KY 77) is a long state highway in Kentucky that runs from Kentucky Route 11 and Kentucky Route 15 northwest of Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the gla ...

in Powell County,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, in the United States. Formerly a railway tunnel, the tunnel has often been described as the "Gateway to Red River Gorge" for the shortcut it provides motorists to the

Red River Gorge The Red River Gorge is a canyon system on the Red River in east-central Kentucky. Geologically it is part of the Pottsville Escarpment. The gorge lies within the Daniel Boone National Forest and was subsequently designated the Red River Gorge ...

canyons of the

Daniel Boone National Forest The Daniel Boone National Forest (originally the Cumberland National Forest) is a national forest in Kentucky. Established in 1937, it includes of federally owned land within a proclamation boundary. The name of the forest was changed in 1966 ...

. Built for the Dana Lumber Company between 1910 and 1911, Nada Tunnel (pronounced nay-duh by locals) was named from

Nada, Kentucky Nada is an unincorporated community in Powell County, Kentucky, United States. History Nada had its start in the year 1911 when the railroad was extended to that point; a sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility w ...

, then a logging town about past the tunnel's entrance. Solid sandstone was blasted with dynamite and dug out with steam machinery and hand tools, with two teams working from each side of the ridge. The tunnel's original dimensions were , but when the first train load of logs became stuck and had to be blasted free, the tunnel's height was increased to . Narrow gauge steam locomotives of the Big Woods, Red River & Lombard Railroad regularly hauled timber extracted from the vast forests of the Red River Valley through the tunnel, to a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

away in Clay City. Once the forests had been cleared, the timber companies pulled out of the area. The railroad tracks were removed and a dirt road was laid in the unlit tunnel in order to accommodate horse and pedestrian traffic. Nada Tunnel has since been paved to carry a single lane of road traffic. Nada Tunnel lends its name to two prehistoric Native American

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

sites, namely "Nada Tunnel 1 Petroglyphs" and "Nada Tunnel 2", which were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1992.

Myths and legends

There is a local legend that the Nada Tunnel is haunted by a ghost of a former tunnel construction worker who perished when a stick of dynamite exploded when being thawed at a nearby fire.

Gallery

References

External links

Video tour of Nada Tunnel
{{Coord, 37, 49, 2, N, 83, 40, 51, W, display=title Buildings and structures in Powell County, Kentucky Transportation infrastructure in Appalachia Tunnels in Kentucky 1911 establishments in Kentucky Tunnels completed in 1911 Road tunnels in the United States Transportation in Powell County, Kentucky