Tennessee's Drivable Rock Tunnel
Tennessee's Backbone Rock Tunnel is going viral with 38 likes and 926 views — a 100-foot rock formation you can actually drive through. The spot offers ridge-top hiking trails, panoramic mountain views, and nearby Backbone Falls. It's being highlighted as one of those hidden gems perfect for road trip stops.
Known as "The Shortest Tunnel in the World," the Backbone Rock Tunnel in Johnson County, Tennessee, was blasted through a spur ridge of Holston Mountain in 1901. The tunnel was originally created for the Beaver Dam Railroad to transport timber from Shady Valley, Tennessee, to a sawmill near Damascus, Virginia. At only about 20 feet in length, an amusing quirk of its construction was that the initial opening was too low for the smokestacks of the trains. This required workers to hand-chisel the rock higher to allow for adequate clearance. The tunnel is approximately 80 feet high. After the local timber industry declined, the railroad tracks were removed in 1924, and the tunnel was opened to automobiles. During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) widened the tunnel for two-lane traffic on what is now Tennessee State Route 133 and developed the surrounding Backbone Rock Recreation Area. The recreation area, located within the Cherokee National Forest, now features hiking trails constructed by the CCC. One trail allows visitors to walk across the top of the rock formation itself. The area also includes picnic facilities and access to Beaverdam Creek.
