If you’re ever in the area and have an interest in weird, spooky and/or abandoned places I highly recommend that you stop and visit the lonely stretch of the Abandoned PA Turnpike. The fact that my boys made the time to take us there and that my family not only indulges my weird interests, but enjoys them almost as much as I do means the world to me.

It was honestly a perfect day…even though we had to walk the last 3/4 of a mile back to the car in a downpour. Oh, and I apologize for any unintended penis photo bombs in my snaps…lol! And sadly they ruined some of the truly beautiful art that people had obviously put time and feeling into. Irritating because I’m not really one for messing up others’ property with spray paint, and immature imbeciles should not be permitted to purchase spray paint…seriously, how many penises can one paint in 1.28 mile stretch of tunnel? The answer to that is a hell of a lot. The sheer volume of graffiti was both irritating and beautiful. The plethora of graffiti and strange little candle lit shrines also made for good distractions from the perfect zombie-cloaking darkness. I was fine though because I was so entirely enthralled by the post-apocalyptic vibes I didn’t really notice. It’s at that point I imagine one could get a little panicky. Once we got to the midpoint (the tunnel is about a mile and a quarter long) you really had a hard time even seeing a point of light at either end, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Once we were not too far into the tunnel, it was dark…by the time we reached the midpoint? It was DARK! As in, you could almost convince yourself that you’d gone blind if you didn’t have a flashlight to prove otherwise dark. I like to fancy myself a badass in most respects, but one of my main fears is…the dark. My friends, traversing this tunnel is not for the faint of heart. We visited the Sideling Hill Tunnel we didn’t do both tunnels because 13 miles was a bit more than we were wanting to walk. There are two tunnels along the stretch which have become bat habitats over the years, so between October and April the tunnels are a no-go because our little nocturnal friends are hibernating. While that is now what it’s predominantly used for, it’s an enter at your own risk scenario.

In 2001 it was decided to turn it into an official hiking/biking trail, but ultimately that never happened. And of course, you know that I’ve seen that. Over the years the abandoned stretch has been used for a variety of things, one of which not surprisingly as the setting of a large part of the post-apocalyptic movie, The Road. Instead of digging larger tunnels or widening the tunnels that existed, the state simply rerouted the turnpike for approximately 13 miles. Back in 1968, for whatever reason, the turnpike was 4 lanes, but with only 1 lane tunnels…you can imagine how well that worked out. Not many people realize that when they are traveling along the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Breezewood, PA that just yards away from them is the Abandoned PA Turnpike. Last Fall I had written about this cool little slice of post-apocalyptic realism that is the Abandoned PA Turnpike. One of my several strange little quirks is my obsession with love of all things post-apocalyptic…

Abandoned pa turnpike