Donner Pass: The Tunnel America Dug by Hand and Abandoned

Seven thousand feet up in the Sierra Nevada of California, there is a hole through a granite mountain that you can walk into whenever you want. It is over a quarter of a mile long, it is completely dark in the middle, and it was cut by hand in the 1860s by men working with hammers, hand drills and black powder. For one hundred and twenty five years, every train that crossed the Sierra Nevada went through this exact hole. Then, in 1993, the railroad walked away from it, pulled up the rails behind them, and left the mountain open. COORDINATES Summit Tunnel east portal: 39.315837, -120.318680 Donner Ski Ranch parking: 39.317350, -120.329400 China Wall: 39.316280, -120.312000 Bring a flashlight. The middle of Tunnel Six is completely dark.