A Huge Tunnel Was Built And Left To Decay In The Middle Of The North Carolina Wilderness

Most people don’t know the history of the abandoned tunnel in North Carolina found along a popular trail in the Tar Heel State. Or that it took millions and millions of dollars to create the hauntingly beautiful tunnel in North Carolina on what’s called "The Road To Nowhere" in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The result, today, is a striking tunnel in the middle of forest land – an abandoned vehicular tunnel that was never actually used.

But that tunnel DOES see a lot of pedestrian use as an equally bizarre and wonderful trailside attraction just outside of Bryson City.

A short summary of how the tunnel came to sit here abandoned and decaying in the wilderness goes like this:

In the 1940s, when Fontana Dam was constructed and filled with water, it flooded a local North Carolina road and caused scads of residents around the lake to abandon their homes for higher ground.

As a result of the road flooding, there were certain agreements made and one of them was to construct a NEW road, Lakeview Drive, which was to be 6.5 miles long.

Construction began on both ends of the road with the intention to build inward until the two ends met. But there was a problem.

Shortly after the completion of the massive tunnel that would serve to eventually connect the two ends of the road as they met, it was determined that the ground and the rock in the area weren't stable enough for a highway.

By the 1970s litigation ensued, as residents and municipalities struggled to get the road built... but to no avail.

In the end, the National Park Service ended up paying a sizeable amount of money to the injured parties and the tunnel... was left to decay.

Those traveling up the short segment of Lakeview Drive from the Bryson City side of the unfinished road can park at the end of the road and walk only about a quarter mile to reach the tunnel.

It's also been incorporated into several trails that pass through the area including the scenic 32-mile Lakeshore via Fontana Dam Trail.

Have you ever visited this abandoned tunnel in North Carolina? Did you even know it was here before now? Sound off in the comments! For even more abandoned places in NC check out these 13 photos of abandoned mansions in North Carolina.