It’s the week of Halloween. The trees are at their peak of fall colors. And it’s a lovely day! Perhaps the last decent day before rain and cold weather settle in. Sounds like a good day for a road trip!

Besides, what better way for a single, childless woman to celebrate Halloween than a trip to haunted tunnels in the hills of abandoned coal mining towns?

Well, actually I’d say the answer to that is trick-or-treating for tacos and margaritas. But since trick-or-treating adults tend to be frowned upon in these parts, ghost hunting is the next best thing.

The Moonville Tunnel in all its autumn glory. Photo by Beth DeLong.

A Brief Introduction

Both Moonville and Kings Switch Tunnels were built in the 1850s when coal mining was big in the area. Iron was another hot commodity of southeastern Ohio, leading to 69 iron furnaces and a rail line between Cincinnati and Marietta.

It may surprise those who aren’t familiar with the area, but southeastern Ohio is considered part of Appalachia. As such, the terrain has some considerable hills. The locals thus chose to walk the train tracks from town to town because the route was much flatter than the hilly roads. But as anyone who’s seen “Fried Green Tomatoes” knows, train tracks are not always the safest routes for pedestrians. A number of accidents and fatalities are recorded in the histories of the tunnels. This includes young ladies walking the track, to a drunken man on his way home, to two engineers killed in a head-on train collision.

Moonville and some of the surrounding towns were abandoned in the early 1900s, the last family leaving Moonville in the 1940s. The railway was still used until 1986, and the tracks were removed in 1988. Since then, Vinton County and surrounding state parks have preserved the land, turning the former rail line into a hiking path.

The towns may be little more than rubble, and the train tracks reduced to a grass and gravel hiking path, but the ghosts of those killed by trains during the heyday of the late 1800s are said to still haunt the tunnels.

The Hope Iron Furnace, one of the two remaining furnaces in the area. This thing is huge! Photo by Beth DeLong.

Moonville Tunnel

It seems that every so often there’s a location that keeps popping up in your social media newsfeeds. Such was the case with Moonville Tunnel for me this fall. Though really not that far from where I grew up, I never knew this place existed.

The drive to the tunnel was beautiful, and the tunnel itself was easy to find. There’s a moderately sized parking area, and it’s only a short walk across the bridge to the tunnel.

Oddly enough, people have chosen this bridge to serve as some sort of lovers bridge, with love locks adorning the fencing. I’m not really sure what that says about your love life when you use the bridge of an abandoned railway leading to a haunted tunnel as the symbol of your relationship…

Another fun fact is there’s a cute little picnic area on the other side of the tunnel. At the time of my visit, the picnic table had been moved partway into the tunnel. You know, in case you wanted to have a snack while you waited for the resident ghosts to show up.

I continued walking the path until I got to the first destroyed trestle. While much of the old rail line can be hiked, a few trestles have gone out, meaning you either have to cross the creeks or, if the water is too high, go back to the road.

Some of the locks on the bridge before the tunnel. Do you ever wonder if these couples actually last? Photo by Beth DeLong.

Kings Switch Tunnel

I then headed to Kings Switch Tunnel (aka Kings Hollow Tunnel). My driving instructions said there should be a gravel pullout and then you can walk down to the tunnel…. That may be, but I saw no pullout. Nor did I see the tunnel from the road. So, after a 5-point turnaround on the narrow gravel road, I backtracked to where King Hollow Trail met Rockcamp Road and parked at a pullout there. The Moonville Rail Trail is clearly identifiable at that intersection, so I parked and walked the 300m to the tunnel. (Give or take, judging by the scale on my map compared to my pinkie fingernail. Don’t act like you don’t use the same scientific measuring technique.)

Apparently the ghost of a young woman haunts the tunnel, following visitors along the tracks. I’m sorry to report that I was followed by no such ghost, though I did keep a keen eye out for her.

Towards the end of the tunnel I heard quite a commotion of leaves, and for a hot second I was hopeful of seeing the ghost of the young woman. (Hey, don’t judge. If only every Tuesday afternoon could be so exciting!) Of course, my logical side kicked in and I figured it must be someone coming down towards the tunnel from the road. Or, even better, maybe it was a deer or other (non-human) mammal worth photographing! I slowly, quietly tiptoed my way over to the end of the tunnel…

But alas, it was only the world’s noisiest squirrel pushing leaves aside as it foraged on the hill.

Road Trip to Moonville Tunnel!

Should you ever find yourself in southeastern Ohio, I highly recommend a road trip. The scenic, gravel road is beautiful, especially in the fall, and the historic coal mining towns have left behind some photogenic remnants to explore.

I heard the ghosts only come out around nighttime or on dark and stormy days. Not sure why they have to be so particular. They’re ghosts not vampires, after all, and a little sunlight won’t kill ‘em. (Pardon me – just a little “dark” humor.)

Well here’s a fun little nugget for you. Right after I wrote that, I heard a large bang in the house, like someone slamming a door shut. But the doors are locked. And no, it’s not just my paranoia making me hear things, the dogs just freaked out too. Did that ghost from the tunnel follow me home?? Weirdo, she could’ve just said hello while I was in the tunnel…

On second thought, maybe it was just that noisy squirrel.

Final Thoughts

To read more about the history of the area, check out this site or this one.

If you’re interested in reading more about the ghost stories, I recommend this one on Moonville Tunnel or this one about the furnaces. This site briefly mentions the ghost of Kings Switch Tunnel.

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