Parkway tunnels are a significant design feature along the historic route. Twenty-five of the twenty-six tunnels along the Parkway are in North Carolina, with all Parkway tunnels representing 36% of the entire National Park Service tunnel inventory. Tunnels along the Parkway were often constructed to reduce excessive scarring that open cuts would entail, enabling the Parkway to cross through ridges in the interest of maintaining the most desirable route location. The distinctive stone masonry portals on most Parkway tunnels were generally not part of the original construction, added later in the 1950s and 1960s.
Milepost | Name | Length | Min. Height | Max. Height |
---|---|---|---|---|
53.1 | Bluff Mountain Tunnel | 630' | 13' 7" | 19' 1" |
333.1 | Little Switzerland Tunnel | 630' | 13' 7" | 19' 1" |
336.8 | Wildacres Tunnel | 330' | 13' 1" | 19' 10" |
344.5 | Twin Tunnel (North) | 300' | 16' | 21' |
344.7 | Twin Tunnel (South) | 401' | 14' 7" | 19' 7" |
349 | Rough Ridge Tunnel | 150' | 13' 9" | 21' 6" |
364.4 | Craggy Pinnacle Tunnel | 245' | 14' 1" | 19' 9" |
365.5 | Craggy Flats Tunnel | 400' | 14' 4" | 19' 5" |
374.4 | Tanbark Ridge Tunnel | 780' | 14' 1" | 19' 5" |
397.1 | Grassy Knob Tunnel | 770' | 13' 7" | 19' 2" |
399.1 | Pine Mountain Tunnel | 1434' | 14' 2" | 19' 3" |
400.9 | Ferrin Knob #1 Tunnel | 561' | 14' 2" | 19' 6" |
401.3 | Ferrin Knob #2 Tunnel | 421' | 14' | 19' 2" |
401.5 | Ferrin Knob #3 Tunnel | 375' | 13' 9" | 19' 5" |
403 | Young Pisgah Ridge Tunnel | 412' | 14' 6" | 19' 8" |
404 | Fork Mountain Tunnel | 389' | 14' | 19' 2" |
406.9 | Little Pisgah Tunnel | 576' | 13' 10" | 19' 5" |
407.3 | Buck Springs Tunnel | 462' | 13' 8" | 19' 2" |
410.1 | Frying Pan Tunnel | 577' | 13' 8" | 19' 9" |
422.1 | Devil’s Courthouse Tunnel | 665' | 14' 2" | 19' |
439.7 | Pinnacle Ridge Tunnel | 813' | 13' 10" | 19' 1" |
458.8 | Lickstone Ridge Tunnel | 402' | 11' 1" | 13' 1" |
459.3 | Bunches Bald Tunnel | 255' | 10' 6" | 13' 4" |
461.2 | Big Witch Tunnel | 348' | 11' 3" | 18' 1" |
465.6 | Rattlesnake Mountain Tunnel | 395' | 14' 5" | 19' 6" |
466.2 | Sherrill Cove Tunnel | 550' | 14' 4" | 19' 7" |