Kentucky's Longest Road Tunnel Is Reportedly Haunted

I have a bucket list item that I have yet to check off. It's a drive through the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel which is part of the 17-mile-long Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

The reason I'd love to travel it is because the tunnel, out of necessity, submerges beneath the Atlantic Ocean for about a mile. Does it sound somewhat intimidating? Yes. Do I still want to do it, regardless? YES! At about the 8:38 mark, you'll see this driver enter that tunnel. But if you skip ahead, you'll miss out on what you get to see before you get there.

The Longest Road Tunnel in Kentucky

I'm a nerd. I love tunnels. I'm that guy who still honks as he drives through the I-64 tunnel in Louisville. I wouldn't do that for a mile in the Chesapeake, though. Nor would I lay on the horn as I drove through the longest tunnel in Kentucky. It's the Cumberland Gap Tunnel, born out of necessity, as you probably guessed from its name.

But not only is the Cumberland Gap tunnel the longest in Kentucky, it's pretty wide, too. That's because it features two independent tubes or bores--eastbound and westbound.

The impressive dual-bore structure stretches 4,600 feet--just 680 feet shy of a mile--and will connect travelers from Kentucky to Tennessee. It will also come out--if you're headed southeast--near an intersection that will take you into Virginia.

A Look Back at the Years Before the Cumberland Gap Tunnel

Yes, it does go THROUGH the mountain. Can you imagine what travel was like before this thing got built? Well...you don't have to.

The Cumberland Gap Tunnel Is Reportedly Haunted

Completed in 1996, the Cumberland Gap Tunnel is not without its folklore. Ghostly hitchhiker anyone?

@storiesofappalachia The Ghostly Hitchhiker of the Cumberland Gap Tunnel#Appalachia #storytelling ♬ original sound - Stories: History of Appalachia - Stories of Appalachia

If there's a tunnel in Kentucky, I feel like it's bound to be haunted, don't you? That only adds to the fun. Also, in the interest of best practices, it's just not a good idea to pick up hitchhikers inside OR outside of a tunnel...and certainly not if they are, you know, ghostly.

The Cumberland Gap Tunnel is only one of two that connect multiple states. The other is the East River Mountain Tunnel connecting Virginia and West Virginia. You know, after writing all this, I now have TWO bucket list items that just so happen to be tunnels.