Roundtrip: 5km
Flett Tunnel
Difficulty: Easy
Location: Shabaqua, ON
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.
Popularity: 55% [?]
Tags: finmark, flett tunnel, shabaqua
December 28th, 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.
December 31st, 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.
July 27th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
The forest access road you refer to is privately owned. Any use of this access is tresspassing.
July 27th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Thanks LM, that’s good to know. Do you know of an alternate route?