Bike the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike 10 miles in 7 Minutes! 

Part of the reason the tunnels are so narrow are their origins. They weren't bored for the PA Turnpike. They were bored for the South Pennsylvania Railroad, aka Vanderbilt's Folly, a stillborn railroad that never laid a single rail. The only things 'complete' were the tunnels (5 of 9 later recycled for the Turnpike--Allegheny had to be rebored 85 feet south of the original as it was deemed unstable)), the grade, and a few bridge piers in the Susquehanna River near/at Harrisburg, and even the tunnels were never actually holed-through, but were bored from both sides. The commission had to bore an additional distance ranging from 551 ft in Kittatinny Mountain Tunnel to 3,379 feet in Sideling Hill Tunnel. Additionally, the tunnels were planned to be double-tracked when excavation began, but as funding diminished, they narrowed to single-track width the further into the mountain they went. Still, utilizing them saved the Commission about $2M in 1935-1940.

Great video and so nice to see these roads of the past! One thing I enjoy about You Tube is this type of channels that people like yourself take the time to share pieces of our history. Thank you so much for taking me along I really enjoy your videos!

Ironically, the old pavement is much better than we have on PA roads today.

It's on my bucket list, too. I haven't been on this stretch of road since I was 8 years old in 1965.

That's one bouncy square.

Thanks for the video, I enjoyed going for the ride with you! If the Cove Valley Service Plaza is the one I think it is there was a Howard Johnson's there where we had a perfectly terrible meal sometime in the mid 60's. I wish I could tell my dad that not only was the place closed but it was knocked down and that stretch of the Turnpike abandoned.

These road and tunnel names brings me back to the 50's & 60's, while my parents would drive up from Virginia to see our grandparents in uniontown, pa. I loved my Grandmother !!

I probably drove thru those tunnels back in the 60's!

Um - that looks like serial killer campsite territory. I'd be too scared to go there. Even with a crowd of people, because I'd feel that we as a crowd were being subject to some government target group out there in the desolation. Yikes! Glad you scratched one off your bucket list. So satisfying.

Pennsylvania is loaded with abandoned places

Wow! Great footage. Old historic abandoned roads are very interesting. You guys were quite brave to go thru the long dark tunnel!😮

I have walked through Sideling Hill Tunnel without any lights. It is a particularly surreal yet tranquil experience.

you are not seeing the other end. you are seeing light reflected off the ceiling of Sideling Hill Tunnel. Sideling has a slight incline in each direction.

I have been watching some of your videos and I LOVE how you give a brief history of these places. Really enjoyed it!!!

Does anyone remember often seeing vehicular accidents with carnage along the Penna turnpike and interstates?

My parents, sisters, and I, used to drive to the Atlantic coast - Atlantic City, and both Ocean Cities, via the PA Turnpike between about 1955 and 1965. Over the decades, I drove through all of those tunnels, or was with my family when we all did so. Dad had me hand him his regular glasses (v.s. sunglasses) for the tunnels, so I had to keep an eye out for them. I was through the single and double lane tunnels, and later the twin tube areas, until they started bypassing them. While there were safety issues, it was a nice break in the monotony of the drive. As were the Howard Johnsons restaurants every here and there. The food wasn't all that good, but beverages and gift shops kept us kids entertained. We used to go to Pittsburgh every few weeks, too - I had a couple of ancient great-aunts down there. I think I was on just about every road that could get you there, too. Their last residence was on Airbrake - half of what had been a six-apartment building. Kinda strange, but easy enough to find if you had some idea of where you were going. I also had a chance to ride some of the streetcars - the younger of the aunts would take me (I don't remember taking my sisters along) here and there to shop, and that was the only way to get there - they didn't drive, and dad wouldn't let me have the car. (Did I mention that I was about six?) We had trackless trolleys here in Youngstown by then, and busses. As I got older, I used to take my grandmother down there to visit her sisters. Later, the former day job would send me to the airport to drop off Air Freight shipments. Couple of wrong turns one AM and I ended up on the runways.... They wouldn't like that now. I think I know five or six ways to get to the airport now. Once in a while I would take one of the stranger ones just for the heck of it if I was not in a hurry. More than a few "where the heck are you going" from passengers.... Great job!

Having grown up in Philadelphia, to parents who were from the midwest, I very well may have gone through both tunnels at some point in my life. Thanks for sharing maybe my brain will recall old memories of riding in the back of our Ford Galaxie and stopping at "the cove"......

if you're gonna do more of these videos, and please do, i'd strongly suggest getting a GOPRO HERO 8 OR 9. the image stabilizer in the hero 8 and above is a game changer. i used to make cycling videos 10 years ago with my GOPRO HERO 2. and they looked great when i was coasting or going downhill. but pedalling it was too herky jerky. i appreciate the image stablizer you put on this thing, but the bounching margins on the sides are a real distraction.

As a boy in July of 1956, my family drove to Washington D.C. from Cleveland in a 1950 Ford. Over 100 degrees in the car with a brother and sister in the back seat with me. There was a head-on crash in the Ray's Hill tunnel that took the lives of seven people and we waited on that highway for 6 and a half hours while the authorities cleared the wreckage. That incident has stayed with me all of my life - overshadowing Washington and everything else that happened that summer. Very interesting, if not spooky, to see it again all these years later.

Great video, thanks! Even though I’m from Pittsburgh and was born in the early 1950s, the first time I was on the PA Turnpike was in the summer of 1967, and that was going westward into Ohio. My family regarded the turnpike as very dangerous, so we used other routes, primarily US Routes 22 or 30, to travel eastward. By the time I drove eastbound toward Philadelphia (and college), it was 1970, after the Rays Hill and Sideling HIll tunnels had been bypassed. A college friend pointed out the abandoned roadway, then easily visible from the new alignment, that included these tunnels.

I've seen many completely overgrown old roads east of Pittsburgh. Thanks for posting.

Rays Hill tunnel was the shortest of the original seven and Sideling Hill tunnel was the longest. I remember noting the length of each tunnel as we drove through them in 1967. I even remember when Laurel Hill tunnel was still in use, but I was only 5 1/2 when we drove through it in 1962.

Great video, funny seeing the box caused by the anti-shake flying around the screen lol

last year i road my tricycle through sideling but thats all the father i got, this year just like you i have a bucket list to dol the whole abandoned turnpike, a lot of people i know didn't know this existed till i told them about it, nice video though i love watching your videos, they peak my history interests.

At 4:49 in the video there is a guy tagging the wall of the tunnel.... also the Cove Valley Service Plaza had a pull off and a tunnel under the Turnpike so you didn't have to cross the highway to go to the Howard Johnsons Restaurant.... Good Ice Cream, Milkshakes, sandwiches and fries... terrible meals....

Great Video. I am 50yrs old, and It's interesting too see what a Four Lane Road Looks Like After 46 years. p.s. I'm in Chicago IL ; nice video 😎

I walked the Sideling Hill tunnel. Its the longest. When you get to the center you can't see either opening because of the curve of the Earth. Awesome! Climb up to the old offices and see the idled turbines that kept air moving through the tunnels back in the day.

I wanna go!! Thank you for sharing thus gem.

Thank you for sharing this bucket list trip!

Thanks for the trip I biked this with my daughter about 2yrs ago. Got on at RT30 and went through Rays and Sidling, then turned around too. It is worth the stop. The vandelisim is a shame over the last 15 years though. Those are old railroad tunnels BTW I am pretty sure. The PRR never completed the route, so the nations first super highway got the right of way and the tunnels on the cheap. There is lots of history to be found on this. Thanks

I'm not from PA but like almost every other state, it has it's history with it's roads and very interesting.

Went thru the tunnels many times as a child yes it was always scary with traffic so close

Cool vid..for some trivia, Rays Hill tunnel was the shortest and Sideling Hill tunnel was the longest on the Pa tpke system. Pa tpke was laid over a New York Central Railroad right of way..once known as Vanderbilt's Folly.

Its eerie to see abandoned sections of roads. Its weird how or why they would reroute a parkway but I guess they had some reason for doing it. Its just strange to see it.

I don't live that far from there. I should get my lazy azz on a bike and explore! Thanx for the video. Very interesting

What's that flash at 6:02 in the tunnel? It could be the other entrance I suppose but it seems too fat away for that.

Enjoyed the video! Nice job.

Drove this when I was a little girl on the way to DC to Arlington after JFK was assassinated. Memories. Thanks.

Yeah, I been there. thanks for the trip man

Thanks for posting, enjoyed it very much !!

Great video! Makes me want to take up biking.

Excellent video, love the tunnels!

Wasn’t one of the tunnels supposed to be blocked off

I’m going there this spring with our mini bike. Hopefully it’s still rideable

I've heard about this. Looks like a fun ride. Road or mountain bike?

Was just there this past evening. Still an amazing nostalgia trip. Shame the tagging is getting a little out of hand. I hope the owners can get some funding together before it becomes to far gone

What video editing application did you use to apply video stabilization? It looks like it did a kick-butt job!

Nice vid. I'm not sure of the title but parts of some zombie movie were filmed in that area.

Those Tunnels Look Spooky & Dark , you need a light on your Bike.

wow ! awesome video.

This could easily be converted into a state park if PA would only invest a small amount for infrastructure. Clean it up, light the tunnel, add some rest rooms and parking. No wonder PA is sinking on the League of American Bicyclists list of "Bicycle Friendly States." Lived there for 40 years and recently moved to CA where this would be a fully developed trail.

May I ask what software you used to achieve the eventual image stabilization?

I have up and inside the tunnels. Very cool if you have a good flashlight

Really cool place. Gotta be careful in Rays Hill though. I fell into an open sewer grate in there and got a nasty scar just above my left foot that I’ll probably have for the rest of my life. I’m lucky I got my tetanus shots LOL

Is it only open to bikes? I know of a couple Jeep groups that would enjoy the ride through.

this looks amazing

you didn't go up in the venation units? i have pics from my trip

I'd be afraid some bears would be in that tunnel. or something.

I remember these things on thorresdale Ave in Philadelphia in 80'

Are some of the old original tunnels still in use? Because I like how they designed the tunnels back then.

I am surprised that there are no people there??? Are there still any road that connect to this section of TP along the way? You'd think that in such areas, the homeless would set up camps.

I love all your videos. Even though i have never been there i feel fairly educated. This may sound weird but why does PA have so many abandoned roads. Did infrastructure get a major overall over the years.

Is that some kind of strange filter you're using that's causing the shakey box? If so, I think it would work better to take it off. Maybe you can use Adobe Premiere to edit it out? Otherwise very interesting video!

Love to cruise down that turnpike going full speed on my dirt bike!!!!

Wish I could find some abandoned turnpike in ohio. Nice video. Can only imagine how peaceful it was. Maybe not im the tunnels.

I enjoyed the video thank you for sharing. Can you do something about the square bouncing all over? It detracts from your video.

How do you get to that tunnel portal? I want to take pictures with my car and use that as a back drop

@ 4:49 - what is moving on the right ?

I wanna go biking here. Is it legal?

And, Breezewood doesn't want a direct connection for I-70. If that area wants tourists so badly, have I-70 go north from I-76/Pennsylvania Turnpike and then go south by Breezewood and cross the turnpike without a connection.

Surprised the Turnpike Commission didn't send you a bill.

Awesome video. I seen your video on the quanahoming tunnel. I'm still try to locate the negro Mt tunnel

wow thats could of been kept up but its still great for bikes and clean fun wow but so sad its empty ILL PRAY YOU ALL CAN MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF IT AMEN ALWAYS A FRIEND OF CARING PEOPLE

Someday I'm going to drive my pick up through there

Give it time and that will become the next graffiti Highway. At least you did not run into any black bear in the tunnel or hobos.

Where all the Pizzabarro's Pizza places? I miss them!!

Dang why don't you drive a car there is it a bit dangerous to? Or illegal?

Well at least those big old '70's Lincolns didng havd to travel thru those tunnels! Just bizarre how the Turnpike Commission or Penndot just left all those roads there instead of tearing everything up.

I always park at the Cove Valley Service Plaza end and go east to west

Anyone know which Tunnel was used in the movie THE ROAD (the scene where the blood cult went thru with weird machines.? One site I recognized is where the father and son spent the night with the old man (Robert Duvall). West side of Tuscarora mountain near that tunnel exit. You see a Mountain that looks like a giant breast.

I'm not a cyclists, can you still drive on this?

Are you talking about Silent Hill the movie? 🤔

Hybrid tires are fine on this trail a lot of it is decent asphalt

About the end of the video, the median looked very narrow.

An awesome video and thanks for sharing!! The Pa Turnpike Commission thought it was cheaper back in the 60's to build a bypass on top of those two mountains instead of twinning the tunnels. I have driven that section in the winter and it can be bad with snow, fog, ice fog and ice!! In the long run the valley route and twinning would have been a lot smarter. There is a crown in the middle of Sideling so called Hill tunnel and that is why you can not see from end to end, 6782 ft. long. Thanks again for sharing this video!!

en I think that you may have a real Pennsylvania accent! (this ol guy I knew had an original Washingtonian accent just like my aunt did!)..Rock n Roll! 'got a Raleigh 27" 12 speed (franchise)..cool.

This looks like a scene from Fallout 4.

I want to go running on that!

Easy ATV access: www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_010202.pdf On the linked .pdf see page 6 for a map of Buchanan State Forest ATV trail. Points 15 & 16 are less than a mile from the abandoned strip of PA Turnpike. One of them, I don't recall which ( 16 I think), gives easy ATV access to the abandoned roadway. Someone told me about this abandoned strip of turnpike and a few months later I found this by accident. It was a neat experience hearing about it as if it was a myth and then finding it by accident and realizing where I was. Very cool.

That was good

wtf who painted over all the graffiti on the eastern entrance to Sideling Hill? I was there in April 2014 last

I wish someone would clean that place up.

First turnpike, everybody learned from it.

I've been here.

There's a homeless guy or something at the second tunnel.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OOP_QoizcWc.html Link to old 1953 footage of these tunnels.

4:48 wtf is that guy doing?

Tell the truth. You don't go there to ride bikes. You go there ride boys.