Tag: Ashland Oregon

Two weeks ago, we journeyed just south of Ashland to explore a tunnel started by the long-defunct Oregon & California Railroad. Their tunnel under Buck Rock was only partially-completed and has been abandoned since 1884. We climbed Buck Rock and found the tunnel’s West Portal but not its East Portal. Today was one of The LovedOne’s volunteer days at the library, so I headed out solo to visit the East Portal and bring closure to our Buck Rock saga.

In the early 1880s, the then Oregon & California (O&C) Railroad was trying to extend its tracks south to the California border. So they surveyed a route that looped around Buck Rock south of Ashland. This particular route crossed difficult terrain that would require multiple tunnels and tall bridges. The O&C had just started on the tunnels (including the Buck Rock Tunnel – O&C Tunnel No. 13) on their route when they were acquired by the Southern Pacific Railroad. That railroad’s civil engineers had a different, shorter, less expensive route to California in mind. So the half-completed Buck Rock Tunnel was abandoned where it was in the ridge south of Buck Rock. It’s still there and intact after 140 years and has recently become something of a popular local hiking destination, accessible mostly on abandoned roads and an obvious use trail. It now lies within the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) built a small parking lot at the end of the dirt road you can use to access it.