Wrights Tunnel South Portal
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- Опубликовано: 9 сен 2024
- This is the illusive Wrights Tunnel, South Portal nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The tunnel itself was originally built by to link a rail line between the San Francisco bay area to Santa Cruz; it was one in a series of 4 tunnels through the mountains.
I shot this video around 2010 and found it again on a back up drive.
So awesome! My friends and I used to hangout at the North Portal. Had no idea the south was still accessible. Last time we went to the North we were dumb enough to go during a rainstorm and got our car stuck. Had to hike about a mile back up to Summit and text my mom so she could call AAA for us since the signal was so spotty up there lol. Fortunately everybody was okay, just a bit cold and wet.
Sal: Thanks for posting this. I used to live in SC, now in Arizona since 2000. I explored this end of the tunnel several times starting in abt 1969 and the last time about 1995. Very remote, but interesting. I suggest you go to the other end at Wright's Station and explore that area as well. There's also a tunnel which is easily accessible off Glenwood Rd. I don't remember the specifics, but if you stop at one of the small bridges (cement guardrails) & look off to your left, you will see the old roadbed, which of course leads to another tunnel portal. The Glenwood tunnel a few miles more, the road actually goes over the tunnel portal, which is identifiable by the guardrail made of pipe. I was never able to explore that, account hostile landowners. Let me know what you think.
Please let me know here your referring too
On Glenwood Dr. right where Eagle Rd. comes down.
I grew up in SC. Such a small county but so many places I have never been.
Start exploring.
back in the early 70`s we took a book that told the story of this sunshine railroad and fallowed it from the end of the dam Lexington ,I stood right where you are by using the books photos we were able to see where most of the land marks were as we moved along this,.HINT at the back of the dam, if you walk along you will see the tracks bed and maybe a spike or two as we did...Get the book then fallow it a lot more fun. and taking your child is the best summer you`ll spent.. enjoy
Jk kidding which book ?
@@gonzalo6125 wow it has been years we got it out of the liberty or book store it showed us ever thing and we just followed the roads at wrights station we sat up on a hill side and you could see where every thing was.~~~ When the trains did run, they passed through eight tunnels, according to railroad historian Derek Whaley in his book “Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains,” published in 2015. “The tunnel portals are mostly intact, with the exception of the portal that's closest to Los Gatos,” Whaley ~~~Railroads of Los Gatos eBook: Edward Kelley ... - Amazon.com
www.amazon.com › Railroads-Los-Gatos-Edward-Ke...
Editorial Reviews. About the Author. Edward Kelley has authored several articles on railroad ... Similar books to Railroads of Los Gatos; Due to its large file size, this book may take longer to download ... line over the Santa Cruz mountains and the towns it supported like Wrights and Alma. ... Great for history and train buffs. these just might be what your looking for. good luck
Thank you for the reply, I will check out those books for sure !! Much appreciated 👍👍
Grew up in redwood city my whole life and graduated from UCSC in 2021. Now I love exploring those mountains would love to find a way to get here but hard to find any info on the south entrance.
The trail from Troy road is possible but it passes by someone's driveway, so I'd highly recommend the trail from Schulties rd. Walk north on Schulties rd until you are just past the GPS location of the Portal, right opposite a steep driveway, you will find a super steep but short trail down to Burns Creek. Go down that trail, recommend bringing a walking pole for safety. Imsearched for over an hour for this trail, once I found it, it's super easy.
Unfortunately, the portal now has a lot of graffiti, compared to this video which is just 7 years old, it's horrific.
9/10...would recommend. Be in mind that the hike there is extremely steep but very rewarding. The last thing to beware of is that you might want to bring jeans as the entire population of California’s Black Widows resides there.
I've been trying to find this tunnel for years and I live in Santa Cruz
I found yesterday both ends north and south if your down ill show you where they are i stay in san jose but from scotts valley originaly
getminesallday24 can you share this sides location? We did the other side last weekend.
@@getminesallday24can you send longitude and latitude coordinates
You can hike the entire way from wright to felton if you really want to, going over the tunnels. The old paths are still there but overgrown now, so it takes quite a bit of bushwhacking, and it is quite dangerous for those who haven't spent a lot of time in those mountains. I did it some years ago. If they had never dynamited the tunnels it would actually be not that bad, because the hardest part is going over the tunnels. The easiest way to this portal is through private property, don't go that way out of respect for the people who live there. There are also tunnels that have been converted into vaults. Do not approach them under any circumstances. One of the tunnels is full of water now. It sometimes has water running out of it. If you see a tunnel with water running out of it, do not go inside under any circumstances.
So the right of way is still there just buried under vegetation? Also are there any tracks left in this portion (between Felton and Los Gatos)?
@@GearReview23 The only rails that have not been pulled up run north out of felton towards zayante... Those belong to roaring camp and big trees. There are no other tracks left, only some piers from where trestles used to be.
@@SuperAWaC That's what I figured. Thanks for confirming though!
How do you cross Hwy 17 as the tunnel goes under it at Wrights?
@@831BeachBum the same way you cross any other highway, carefully. but it is best to go around that one.
I remember my mom showing me this tunnel when I was little and telling me the horrible story of the Chinese immigrants who died there and bodies left to decompose in a shallow grave in the nearby mountains. The workers were so terrified of the flammable petroleum in the mountain that they wrote prayers on the walls and support beams. 32 people died of a dynamite explosion that ignited the fossil fuels in the tunnel. The place is definitely haunted, which is why the graffiti around there is creepy.
Thanks for posting this. I myself have been searching the Santa Cruz Mountains looking for tunnel entrances and learning about the history. Super fascinating. I have been wondering how to get to this tunnel entrance. Did you come from Summit Road or did you come across Burns Creek from Schulties Rd?
Hi Pete, I had to navigate down from Summit road. I’ve tried for a year to go from Schulties and up Burns creak with no luck.
Hey, I've been really interested in exploring this whole region for a while, and have gone to the North Portal at Wright's station since that one was easy to find, but am trying to visit the south portal. I was wondering where from Summit road you went down? Also have you been to the other tunnels by any chance?
@@aram4266 i found both ends of wrights tunnel and glenwood tunnel now im in search for moutain charlie rd tunnel let me know if your down to explore i stay in san jose
Hey, If y'all are looking for the tunnel portal, I found the coordinates of it. Its roughly 37.126089, -121.964189
, goo.gl/maps/EAn3LTLdPCEZwMty5
@@getminesallday24 Mt Charlie north portal used to be easy, when traveling north on Glenwood Rd, there is a driveway just before a bridge (just a little past Mt Charlie intersection). You'd turn left into the driveway and it was on the left side of driveway about 200' before the property owner's house. A couple of years ago, the guy put in an electric gate. Some jerk who was concerned about liability, dynamited the entrance a while back. I don't know if he is the current property owner or a previous one. You used to be able to walk most of the way through this one. When he dynamited it, the roof caved in and now the concrete portal just sits in front of the hillside with daylight showing behind it. The other end requires finding the right driveway to get you to get to the roadbed from Zayante Rd, somewhere in the neighborhood of Western States Rd. You have to walk or bike for quite a ways in and climb over or under a few water district gates that say no trespassing on them. A lot of local people walk on the right of way all the time. There are a few places where you lose the right of way and have to use some intuition to find your way back onto the path. About 1000' before the tunnel portal, there is a road coming in from the left and then the roadbed just kind of disappears and you have to walk around through the trees and follow what looks most obviously to be where the road bed is and then all of a sudden in the shadows behind the trees... there it is. A ghostly site of a tall concrete portal in the forest...
Any chance you can post exact way to get to this one?
SergeDelishis look up the coordinates on google
Wish he had given the longitude & latitude so others could find it easier.
Yup. Got those but not going to publish it to the web.
Coordinates have been given in the comment above yours...
Normally I would say stop it but when theirs banjo’s Ha Ha Ha well you’ve got me.
9/10...would recommend. Be in mind that the hike there is extremely steep but very rewarding. The last thing to beware of is that you might want to bring jeans as the entire population of California’s Black Widows resides there.
9/10...would recommend. Be in mind that the hike there is extremely steep but very rewarding. The last thing to beware of is that you might want to bring jeans as the entire population of California’s Black Widows resides there.