No one (so far) can
verify if you seen any kind of "light" at the center of Laurel
Hill or not. In the case of Ray's Hill, you can see light (though
faint) the entire way from one portal to the opposite portal. Inside
the center of Sideling Hill, you cannot see daylight from either portal.
To reach the eastern
portal, you have about a mile to travel from the current turnpike.
Leaving your car on this "turn" in the road will make it most
visible to the highway patrol. The old roadway is regularly visited by
P.T.C. staff and PennDot workers. You can be fined and charged with
trespassing for being there.
P.T.C./PennDot workers
have chased off at least one visitor to the eastern portal in recent
years. This visitor shared his story on a website posting.
The P.T.C./PennDot workers have no jurisdiction over the old roadway
and tunnel, nor do they have the right to detain you -- but what do you
think the state highway patrol will have to say if they catch you there?
The tunnel has never
been open to legal visitation.
The P.T.C. no longer is
issuing visitation "permits" to anyone. See my Laurel Hill
Exploration page for a copy of an email that confirms this. I got the
idea to ask about a permit after reading of someone getting permission to
visit Laurel Hill because of doing a project on the old South Penn Railroad.
There are "back
roads" that lead to the Laurel Hill Tunnel's eastern portal. One
road is called Tunnel Hill Road. Another road probably leads right to the portal and/or
the P.T.C.'s storage areas. No one on the Internet has documented
actually taking that road because of the stern warning on a P.T.C.
"no trespassing" sign. Even the closest public back road to
the eastern portal area requires you to cross over private property at the
end. Someone posted a story about meeting a nice gentle elderly man
who said "ok" to them crossing his property and in fact, gave them
directions. Easy enough, except that visitors to this area have noted
a rather rough hike, steep grades, muddy and soft ground and of course, a
field of wild ferns (rattlesnakes like ferns). You decide if you would
like to take this route.
The eastern portal of
Laurel Hill Tunnel shows MUCH LESS vandalism and graffiti ("Say
it with Krylon!") abuse
than the Ray's Hill or Sideling Hill tunnels. In the rare photograph
below, it appears the windows on the upper level may still there or has been
removed by the P.T.C., rather than broken by vandals.
No one has to worry about hiking to the western portal of the Laurel Hill Tunnel. The current turnpike alignment goes right past it. I would estimate the western portal to be no further than a quarter-mile from the current turnpike. The P.T.C. uses the old roadway to store road salt and asphalt. I have seen the western portal from a chartered bus, not having a clue what it was at the time. We took a group of high school students from my church on a trip to Ocean City, MD. We passed this tunnel portal. It's nothing much to look at, as the name plate/letters have all fallen off.
To view the western portal, slow down and safely pull off the current alignment about mile marker 99.0 EB. The bypass begins around mile marker 99.2 EB.
The western portal of the
Laurel Hill Tunnel, taken sometime after June 2003 because the metal locking
door was not installed then when I saw it.
Rumor has it that the Laurel Hill Tunnel is currently being used to store core samples from the Mon-Fayette Freeway. Another rumor is that a professional racecar/NASCAR driver is renting the tunnel for time tests or using it as a wind tunnel.
