Have you ever been to Natural Tunnel State Park?

If you have not been toNatural Tunnel State Park, you will see the interesting thing about hiking at Natural Tunnel is that you can hike all the way down to the river and to the tunnel floor, or you can hike all the way up and around the top of the tunnel. Both hikes make for fascinating scenery and views!

You can hike along the top of the tunnel and look over the edge (and to Lover's Leap)

Of course if you aren't into hiking, there is the chair lift that will gladly take you down and back. (Check with the park for hours of operation as it is seasonal)

This trail is steep and leads to the tunnel floor

The view is fabulous from the tunnel floor or on the trek down

Railroad tracks and crossing

AboutNatural Tunnel State Park

Natural Tunnel, called the Eighth Wonder of the World by William Jennings Bryan, has been attracting sightseers to the mountains of southwestern Virginia for more than 100 years.

The creation of Natural Tunnel began more than a million years ago in the early glacial period when groundwater bearing carbonic acid percolated through crevices and slowly dissolved surrounding limestone and dolomite bedrock. Then, what is now Stock Creek was probably diverted underground to continue carving the tunnel slowly over many centuries. The walls of the tunnel show evidence of prehistoric life, and many fossils can be found in the creek bed and on tunnel walls.

History