Black and White: Mary’s Rock Tunnel

For three months In January 1932 workers drilled through 600 feet of solid granite to complete Skyline Drive’s greatest construction challenge.

Mary’s Rock Tunnel is a 610-foot long tunnel blasted through the mountain that Skyline Drive passes through. It is considered one of the most impressive engineering feats of Skyline Drive.

It was necessary to pierce Mary’s Rock Mountain with a 600-foot tunnel to avoid expensive rook retaining walls.

Careful blasting allowed both portals to keep their natural rock settings. The tunnel was created in just over three months.

Several springs were encountered during the blasting operations. These springs still exist today and you can see evidence of them by the dripping from the ceiling in the spring and the ice that forms in the winter.

Mary’s Rock is a 3,514-foot (1,071 m) tall mountain in Shenandoah National Park. The peak is just south of the Thornton Gap Entrance of the park, and north of the taller Pinnacle. It is the eighth highest peak in Shenandoah National Park

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