TUNNELS in OREGON

There are a large number of tunnels within Oregon. They can be on highways, train tracks and trails for people and bicycles to use. They can be well known or some no one will know where they are.
The listings on this page will not list tunnels that are man made (like when the state will make a tunnel so that one road goes over another or a highway goes under a railroad. Some of these can be long so that the person thinks that they are in a real tunnel. You will see this in places like when going east on I-84 you use the I-84 exit to I-205 northbound.
State Highway Tunnels
Within a few miles of Portland there are 3 different tunnels on State and Interstate Highway Systems.
West from downtown Portland is a long range of 1000 foot high group of hills called the West Hills. What ever you did in moving traffic west of Portland you had a lot of trouble with 10% and greater grades. You could not move a large amount of traffic because of these hills.
The first set of tunnels are two side by side tunnels in downtown Portland on the Sunset Highway. These tunnels are three lanes wide each with one going east and one that goes west. This highway is the main highway going west and carries the most traffic of any highway in North West Oregon. See below about the other tunnels that goes side by side here (light rail).
The other State Highway tunnel is also on the Sunset Highway west of Manning going to the coast.
There is a set of 3 tunnels that were on the old Columbia Gorge Highway that was replaced by the new I-84 highway that was built on the banks of the Columbia River. This old highway was not used or open for years but in 2000 the Oregon State Park Dept. has reopened then for people to walk or to ride their bicycles through. This would be a nice all day trip.
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City of Portland and County Tunnels
Two of these tunnels are tunnels that the City of Portland has on the way up to the top of Rocky Butte near the Portland Airport.
The third set of two tunnels is on Cornell Road going west. This road is a county road going up to the top of the west hills. The road goes past Washington Park to the top. If you would like to see Forest Park (the largest park in any city in the US) you would take this road.
The next tunnel is a tunnel that the City of Portland has in the West Hills on West Burnside Street to the top of the West Hills.
Light Rail Tunnels
Tri-Met (the local transportation government) has two 3 mile tunnels beside the State Highway Tunnels on the Sunset Highway. They are on the light rail line between Gresham and Hillsboro. One thing on this set of tunnels is that the Portland Zoo station inside this tunnel set is the deepest train station in the western world and one of the deepest ones in the world. You can take an elevator up to the top to the Portland Zoo.
Rail Tunnels
WARNING
Train tunnels most of the time are not close to roads.
All railroad tunnels are unsafe places to enter.
All tracks and tunnels are private property of the different RR companies. They can have you arrested for trespassing if you go onto their property.
NEVER go into a tunnel or walk over a RR bridge unless you have permission of the railroad. If you go into a tunnel you can never know when a train will come. In a tunnel you have no place to save yourself from the train.
If you want to take a picture of a tunnel opening take it from a highway or from a field away from the tracks. You can contact the RR company and maybe get help from them, otherwise DONOT travel up the track or enter a tunnet to take pictures.
If you are in Portland, Oregon you can get an excellent picture of a RR tunnel opening if you go to NW Rock Creek Road and Cornelius Pass Road. Set your camera where the road comes together and in front of you about 50 feet up the track is a tunnel that will let you take an excellent picture. This is the best shot in Oregon of a tunnel opening.
There are a large number of railroad tunnels in Oregon as there are a large number of hills and mountains in Oregon. We will list a few of the ones, some that most of the people know about and some that almost no one knows about, because they are out of the way.
The first RR tunnel that we will take up in the one on Port of Tillamook RR about 3 miles west of Timber Oregon. This tunnel is being rebuilt and also they are running the main fiber opic cables through the tunnel. The auto highway is not near the tunnel so it will be hard to take pictures of the tunnel. The Port of Tillamook has 15 more tunnels on their line between Forest Frove to the coast. The tunnel above is the only one that you may be able to take a picture of the front. The other 14 are in the canyon betwen Cockran and Sammon Berry. This is a long way from any trail or road. The only way in is by rail and the tunnels are a long way in from either end.
Portland and Western / Willamette and Pacific Railroads have 3 tunnels on their lines in Oregon. Two of them you cannot see as they are not near a highway. One of these is a 1,000 foot tunnel between Eddyville and Elk City in Lincoln County. This tunnel is NOT accessible by any road. The other one is between Rainier and Mayger in Columbia County is is 300 feet long and it is also NOT accessible by a road. The 3rd tunnel is the tunnel that we listed as a tunnel that you can get a wonderfull picture of the opening above in this article. It is their 4,000 foot Cornelius Pass tunnel. This tunnel has access roads at both ends. This is called the Cornelius Pass tunnel. Most of the people think that no train goes on this line. They have from one to two trains a day and you have to be carefull and NOT go into them or stand on the tracks. I wish to thank them for giving us the above information.
Between Bonneville Dam and Portland along the Columbia River the UP Railroad has 2 tunnels. In the old days the highway dept had tunnels there also but they are gone.
Between Portland and Lake Oswego there is an old railroad that the main line railroad company gave up and gave to the city. It is now owned by 8 different governments (Portland, Lake Oswego, Clackamas County, Multnomah County etc. ) Half way between Portland and Lake Oswego there is a 1310 foot tunnel along the Willamette River. Very little freight moves along this line and each summer the city of Lake Oswego runs a street car between downtown Portland and downtown Lake Oswego.
All the freight that goes from Portland west goes along the Columbia River or goes south to Lake Oswego and then west except a little that goes over the west hills. There is a Railroad Company that has a single line going west along Cornelius Pass Road and they have a long tunnel that goes through the top. One end is about 2 miles from the Willamette river west of St Johns and the other end comes out on Rock Creek Rd and Cornelius Pass Rd. You will not find the north end but if you go to Cornelius Road and turn onto Rock Creek Road you will see the other end in front of you about 50 feet away.
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If anyone knows of another tunnel within Oregon let me know. I would like to know who owns the tunnel and where it is. Use the address at the end of this page.
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Any Comments, Questions, or Inquiries: e_Mail is- tedpet@jps.net
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Ted Peterson.