June 1989

Entrance to the Doe River Gorge near Hampton

Just to the left of the tree in the middle of the photo is a small spot of color. It is the water tank at the entrance to tunnel 2, which is the entrance to the Doe River Gorge. The tunnel cuts through the small part of the ridge on the right. The railroad followed the river which flows out of the Gorge and out of the photo to the left. I'm standing on a road that closely follows the old ET right-of-way. It goes around to the right and then follows the treeline back towards the watertank and the tunnel entrance. The Doe River Gorge Christian Camp now owns the Gorge and has completely renovated the entrance with a lake, bunk cars, a lodge, a caboose, and other facilities.

This view, which was visible from the highway, can no longer be seen. The empty meadow was dug out and leveled in the mid-nineties. The extra dirt was piled up like a mountain about where the trees in the center of the meadow are. This mountain cuts off the view of the Camp and isolates them from the highway and from the sawmill that has covered the meadow with mud and cut timber.