Tunnel tree

Last updated

A tunnel tree is a large tree in whose trunk a tunnel has been drilled. This practice took place mainly at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century in the west of the United States.[ citation needed ]

The tunnel allowed tourists to walk or drive through the tree with a car. The tunnels were bored to boost tourism. [1]

The tunnelling seriously damaged the health of the trees. As a result, some trees have fallen. Due to the harmful effects of hollowing out trees, the practice of creating tunnel trees has been abandoned. [2]

List of tunnel trees
NamePlaceTree speciesNotePicture
Wawona Tree Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park Sequoiadendron giganteum Fell 1969 6209-248VacYosmiteTunlTree.jpg
Pioneer Cabin Tree Calaveras, Calaveras Big Trees State Park Sequoiadendron giganteumFell 2017 CalaverasTreeTunnel1.jpg
Tunnel Log Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Sequoiadendron giganteumFell 1937, blocking a road, a tunnel cut through the log in 1938 TunnelLog.JPG
Chandelier Tree Leggett Sequoia sempervirens 20080904 21 Leggett, California.jpg
Shrine Drive-Thru Tree Myers Flat Sequoia sempervirens ShrineDriveTru.jpg
Klamath Tour-Thru Tree Klamath Sequoia sempervirens
California Tunnel Tree Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park Sequoiadendron giganteum Mariposa-grove-tree.jpg
Dead Giant Tunnel Tree Tuolumne, Yosemite National Park Sequoiadendron giganteum Tunnel tree in Tuolumne Grove.jpg

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tunnel</span> Underground passage made for traffic

A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube construction techniques rather than traditional tunnel boring methods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverside Park (Manhattan)</span> Public park in Manhattan, New York

Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park in the Upper West Side, Morningside Heights, and Hamilton Heights neighborhoods of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The park measures 4-mile (6.4 km) long and 100 to 500 feet wide, running between the Hudson River/Henry Hudson Parkway and the serpentine Riverside Drive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Ridge Parkway</span> Scenic parkway in the United States

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is America's longest linear park, runs for 469 miles (755 km) through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, linking Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It runs mostly along the spine of the Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains. Its southern terminus is at U.S. Route 441 (US 441) on the boundary between Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina, from which it travels north to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The roadway continues through Shenandoah as Skyline Drive, a similar scenic road which is managed by a different National Park Service unit. Both Skyline Drive and the Virginia portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway are part of Virginia State Route 48 (SR 48), though this designation is not signed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orton, Peterborough</span> Human settlement in England

Orton is a mostly residential area of the city of Peterborough, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. For electoral purposes it comprises Orton Longueville, Orton Waterville and Orton with Hampton wards in North West Cambridgeshire

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calaveras Big Trees State Park</span> State park in California, US

Calaveras Big Trees State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving two groves of giant sequoia trees. It is located 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Arnold, California in the middle elevations of the Sierra Nevada. It has been a major tourist attraction since 1852, when the existence of the trees was first widely reported, and is considered the longest continuously operated tourist facility in California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariposa Grove</span> Giant sequoia grove in Yosemite National Park, California, United States

Mariposa Grove is a sequoia grove located near Wawona, California, United States, in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park. It is the largest grove of giant sequoias in the park, with several hundred mature examples of the tree. Two of its trees are among the 30 largest giant sequoias in the world. The grove closed on July 6, 2015, for a restoration project and reopened on June 15, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thames Tideway Scheme</span> Sewage system being created for London, England

The Thames Tideway Tunnel is a 25 km (16 mi) combined sewer under construction, running mostly under the tidal section (estuary) of the River Thames across Inner London to capture, store and convey almost all the raw sewage and rainwater that currently overflows into the estuary. These events occur when rainfall volumes exceed the capacity of Bazalgette's and other engineers' London sewerage system. The tunnelling phase of the project was completed in April 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hagerman Pass</span>

Hagerman Pass, elevation 11,925 ft (3,635 m), is a high mountain pass that crosses the continental divide in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado in the United States. The pass traverses the Sawatch Range west of Leadville, connecting the headwaters of the Arkansas River on the east with the upper valley of the Fryingpan River above Basalt, in the basin of the Colorado River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soo, Kagoshima</span> City in Kyushu, Japan

Soo is a city located in northeastern Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. It is near Miyakonojō, Miyazaki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park</span> State park in Humboldt County, California, United States

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is a state park, located in Humboldt County, California, near the town of Orick and 50 miles (80 km) north of Eureka. The 14,000 acre (57 km²) park is a coastal sanctuary for old-growth Coast Redwood trees.

Greywell is a small village and civil parish in Hampshire, England – a past winner of the Best Kept Village in Hampshire competition and a recent winner of Best Small Village in Hampshire. It lies on the west bank of the River Whitewater, 6 miles east of Basingstoke and 1.5 miles west of Odiham. The area is popular with walkers and cyclists. Many photographers also take pictures of some of the local architecture. There are 29 Grade II listed buildings or entries in the area, and 2 Grade II* listed buildings. The nearby medieval Odiham Castle is of historical interest. At the centre of the village is the Fox and Goose public house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chandelier Tree</span> Coast redwood tunnel tree

The Chandelier Tree in Drive-Thru Tree Park is a 276-foot (84 m) tall coast redwood tree in Leggett, California with a 6-foot-wide (1.8 m) by 6-foot-9-inch-high (2.06 m) hole cut through its base to allow a car to drive through. Its base measures 16 ft (4.9 m) diameter at breast height (chest-high). A historic sign put up in or before the 1930s claims a height of 315 feet high and 21 feet wide, but a contemporary measurement by a Certified Arborist experienced with tall redwoods and using a laser rangefinder found the tree to be 276 feet high and 16 feet in diameter. It is unknown if the tree was topped by Nature in between the measurements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Storrow Drive</span> Parkway along the Charles River in Boston

Storrow Drive, officially James Jackson Storrow Memorial Drive, is a major crosstown parkway in Boston, Massachusetts, running east–west along the southern bank of the Charles River. It is restricted to cars; trucks and buses are not permitted on it, while pedestrian access is available via walking paths on the Charles River side of the road. Boston drivers use the route for quick access to downtown locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wawona Tree</span>

The Wawona Tree, also known as the Wawona Tunnel Tree, was a famous giant sequoia that stood in Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California, USA, until February 1969. It had a height of 227 feet (69 m) and was 26 feet (7.9 m) in diameter at the base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brynglas</span> Human settlement in Wales

Brynglas is an area of the city of Newport, South Wales, United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cramberg</span> Municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

Cramberg is a municipality in the Nassau Nature Park in the district of Rhein-Lahn, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany. It belongs to the association community of Diez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Small Ring, Brussels</span> Small ring road of Brussels, Belgium

The Small Ring inner ring road, formally R20 and N0 is a series of roadways in central Brussels, Belgium, surrounding the historic city centre. The city centre is usually defined as the area within the Small Ring; this area is called the Pentagon due to its pentagonal shape. The pentagon forms the core of the City of Brussels municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">178th–179th Street Tunnels</span>

The 178th and 179th Street Tunnels are two disused vehicular tunnels in Upper Manhattan in New York City. Originally conceived and constructed under the auspices of Robert Moses, the twin tunnels have been superseded by the Trans-Manhattan Expressway in Washington Heights, which itself runs through a cut with high-rise apartments built over it in places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pioneer Cabin Tree</span>

The Pioneer Cabin Tree, also known as The Tunnel Tree, was a giant sequoia in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, California. It was considered one of the U.S.'s most famous trees, and drew thousands of visitors annually. It was estimated to have been more than 1,000 years old, and measured 33 feet (10 m) in diameter; its exact age and height were not known. The tree was topped before 1859. It fell and shattered during a storm on January 8, 2017.

References