Stumphouse Tunnel

The Stumphouse Tunnel is part of the Blue Ridge Railroad, a project started in 1852 to connect Charleston and Knoxville. It was never finished due to lack of funds, but three of the tunnels still remain standing in various states of incompletion. I visited two of the others on the Blue Ridge Railroad Historical Trail, but did not visit the largest of these, Stumphouse. During the Christmas break, my wife and I went with her uncle to see the sights in the mountains, and Stumphouse Tunnel was one of the places we visited. I wouldn't classify this as a hike, but we at least viewed the tunnel itself, and Issaqueena Falls just nearby.

In late May, I took what turned out to be a 7 or 8 mile hike in upstate South Carolina, just north of Walhalla. The Blue Ridge Railroad Historical Trail is a 2.5-mile in-and-out trail that begins at Stumphouse Tunnel Park and follows an incomplete railbed for the Blue Ridge Railroad. This railroad was begun in 1852, with the intent of connecting Knoxville, TN with Charleston, SC. The railroad itself was to involve a line to be built from Anderson, SC to Knoxville, through 13 tunnels that were to be dug as part of the project.