NOTE (March 1, 2021): I have been contacted by the owner of the property that contains the tunnel portal. He has requested that no one try to access the tunnel. The mine gate was locked by the DEP and signs are posted.
This blog post retains the general information that can be found in other sources, but I have removed and redacted specific location information.
DO NOT TRESPASS. It is dangerous, illegal, and violates the privacy of the property owners.
I can’t resist a good challenge, a good mystery. When daily life doesn’t present enough mysteries (unless you happen to be Hercule Poirot, Nancy Drew or the like), you have to go looking. I had little clue there was such an elaborate underground world here in NEPA until I stumbled upon the Underground Miners website.
Our coal mining history is common knowledge—but many of us are under the impression that the since the mines were abandoned years ago, they also ceased to exist or at least to be accessible. Living “up da Valley” for the past two years and hiking these mountains with Rich started to change my mind. The signs were all around! The miners are still with us. And the Underground Miners have shown that with a little time and trouble, lots of preparation and a dash of fearlessness, we can still locate the mines and listen to their stories.
Coal mines are fascinating, but what’s more intriguing than a tunnel you knew nothing about, that travels for at least several miles beneath the city and emerges at two distant but familiar points? Through the Underground Miners’ site, I learned of one particular tunnel and just had to find the entrance for myself.
I knew we were looking for a gated concrete portal along the riverbank, somewhere between Olyphant and Scranton. That’s quite a long stretch, and I needed to find some information to narrow down the possibilities. Google brought me to the LRCA site, which for years has proved a treasure trove of local history “nuggets,” site access hints, and interesting avenues for further exploration. Buried in an appendix of one of their documents, I found this simple statement:
A noteworthy feature on the […] bank below the intersection of […], is the portal entry of the Underwood Tunnel, constructed by the Pennsylvania Coal Company in 1909. This three-mile long rock tunnel runs on a east-northeast alignment to Dunmore, near the I-81/PA Rte. 347 interchange, where it turns to the northeast, terminating in the Underwood Colliery workings in Throop. This tunnel was built to drain the mines along its route.
and Bingo, we have our general portal location and we’re on our way. Our suspicions were confirmed that night by a local contact who gave a helpful hint.
Now, how to locate it?
After our successful scouting of the “Bridge to …?” Rich and I continued exploring on this brisk day until one lucky turn brought us face to face (well, with a river between) with the sought-after portal. Yipeee! A five-second celebration was enough in that kind of wind, and we headed right back to the car. By this time it was 3:00pm on a Friday, and all the crazies were out. We scouted a few more very minor sites by car, and then headed back to Rich’s to trade sauce and, well, so that I could track mud across his floor (sorry about that, but at least I paid the maid!).
There may eventually be more to the story. For now, I’m satisfied to have discovered another of NEPA’s intriguing little secrets.