Flett Tunnel

October 30, 2009

Roundtrip: 5km

Flett Tunnel

Flett Tunnel

Difficulty: Easy

Location: Shabaqua, ON

Click Here for GPS Map

This easy hike through the abandoned Flett Railway Tunnel northwest of Thunder Bay is an interesting reminder of our early transportation heritage.

I will be posting several of the railway tunnels in the region on this site.  And while the tunnel near Flett Siding isn’t nearly as long as the one previously posted at Jumbo’s Cove,  it is the only former railway tunnel that you can actually drive though. It is about 300 metres in length.

From Thunder Bay head West on highway 11/17 toward Kakabeka Falls for 40 km.  Turn right onto Finmark Road and drive for 4.3km then turn left onto Flett Road and drive for 1.7km to the old railway bed which is now a forest access road.  This road is only suitable for off-road vehicles.  Hike down the road and through the tunnel.

You can download the GPS file for this hike here:

CAD 2.00 / Download GPS File

9 Responses

  1. C Aegard December 28, 2009 at 3:57 pm #

    I found out about this little gem this summer while doing some research believe it or not on the Ogoki water diversion project. On the Aug. long weekend in the rain we went out to see if we could find it. Not many people know this tunnel even exists. How did you find out about it? If you check on Google Earth there are some pictures of our quest.

  2. superiorhiking December 31, 2009 at 3:46 pm #

    I’m not sure where I heard about Flett Tunnel first. It is a pretty popular spot that I had heard about a number of times from hikers and cyclists alike.

  3. LM July 27, 2010 at 5:41 pm #

    The forest access road you refer to is privately owned. Any use of this access is tresspassing.

  4. superiorhiking July 27, 2010 at 6:09 pm #

    Thanks LM, that’s good to know. Do you know of an alternate route?

  5. LM July 27, 2010 at 6:24 pm #

    I am unaware of an alternate route. The forest access road and the tunnel are on private property – falling rock is common in the area as well.

  6. Steve September 8, 2010 at 1:40 pm #

    Regarding the tresspassing, Last i was up there this summer there were signs “Enter at your own risk, private property” Or something along those lines. Seems the owner is just looking out for his own well being in the event someone was to get hurt in the tunnel.

  7. superiorhiking September 8, 2010 at 5:18 pm #

    Thanks for you comment Steve, that was my impression too.
    Susan

  8. Lisa February 11, 2011 at 5:39 pm #

    We live 5 mins from this tunnel. There is some amazing hiking to be done here. You can access the tunnel from the railbed. It is not privately owned. The land to the left of the tunnel is crown land, the land to the right is privately owned.

    If you pass through the tunnel and head down the railbed to the curve you will find some even better hiking.

  9. superiorhiking February 11, 2011 at 6:02 pm #

    Thanks for your helpful comment Lisa!

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