Ptarmigan Tunnel

The Ptarmigan Tunnel was built in 1930 through the Ptarmigan Wall at an elevation of 7,200 feet (2,200 m) in Glacier National Park, near Many Glacier, in Montana, US. The 250-foot (76 m) manmade tunnel allows hikers to avoid a strenuous climb over very steep terrain between Many Glacier and the Belly River valley. Two opposing steel jackhammers drilling from either side of the tunnel and a series of ten-hole rounds of dynamite gradually broke through the mountain in less than three months.

Ptarmigan Tunnel
LocationGlacier National Park, Glacier County, Montana, USA
Nearest cityWest Glacier, Montana
Coordinates48°50′57″N 113°42′28″W
Built1930
ArchitectOle Westman
MPSGlacier National Park MRA
NRHP reference No.86000360
Added to NRHPFebruary 14, 1986[1]

A wide area, originally for guide and tourist horses, extends from each portal with a masonry retaining wall. Natural rock lines the interior walls. Heavy iron doors were hung across the tunnel adits during the summer of 1975. They remain open from mid-July until October 1, weather permitting. Designed by Ole Westman, this trail tunnel embodies exceptional qualities of landscape architecture and engineering in a pedestrian-scaled tunnel, cut through a sheer mountain wall.[2]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. "Ptarmigan Tunnel". List of Classified Structures. National Park Service. 2008-11-07.

See also


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