Eisenhower – Johnson Memorial Tunnels

If anybody wants to see a time-​lapsed video of this engineering marvel, I’ve put together one and uploaded it on YouTube for everyone to enjoy.

I have been through this tunnel a few times on the way up to Vail. It seems to be well kept and clean. Its a nice break from the weather when you for through the tunnel. It reminds me of a movie the way the lights are in the tunnel, I hear their is great history to this tunnel.

Ever since Ive moved to Colorado, Ive been using this tunnel for all points west along I-​70.
A few interesting facts of this tunnel are
The Tunnel operates 24-​hours a day, seven days a week, employing 52 full-​time employees with job duties that range from round the clock television surveillance, emergency response, tunnel washing, ventilation maintenance, tunnel sweeping, snow removal, heavy equipment servicing and repair, and water treatment.
The pilot bore was completed in 1964. The Eisenhower Memorial Bore took five years to complete and was dedicated March 8, 1973. The eastbound Edwin C. Johnson Bore took four years to complete and was dedicated December 21, 1979.
Around 28,000 vehicles pass through the tunnel each day!
its best to avoid traveling during peak holiday travel since you can spend about an hour going up to the tunnel from the base of the mountain (around the town of Silverthorne) west traveling east.

An engineering marvel. Crazy long tunnel that is a portal to another world.
Traffic sucks in the area, especially on the weekends and during ski season, but they are usually able to handle it accordingly and well.

I love this tunnel! So many childhood memories of driving to the mountains with my Dad. So glad to share with my kiddo.

Who checks-​in at a tunnel? Me! Now that I realize I can, this lady is gonna be Duchess of the tunnel in no time! Who writes a review of a tunnel? Me, and 23 other people as of August 2014. Why? Better question is, why not?
Driving home to Denver from Summit County, I decided I’m going to check in at «the tunnel», as it’s known to locals. My husband is convinced I’ve peaked on my Unilocal-​obsession, but then I inform him that people have actually reviewed it. Incredulous, he insists I read him some and 10 minutes later we’ve laughed out loud and he is now convinced of the true talent and humor that exists of writers in Unilocal-land…well duh!
I am neither overly talented, nor exceptionally funny, but I will absolutely agree that this tunnel is a modern marvel, and though the traffic is notoriously bad at times, I am forever grateful that the tunnel is an option. My favorite is the one or two times a year that they spray down the white tile of the walls. Most of the time, you wouldn’t think twice about the normally gray grime covered walls, but the days they clean them– oh wow! They’re so white, and shiny!
Since I have traveled through this tunnel the majority of weekends for the last 20 years, here’s a few tips:
1. Check
for travel conditions! During winter, peak travel times Eastbound are Sunday from about 12−7pm. Bad weather will always slow you down. There is also a handy I-​70 app for $ 1 in the Apple app store.
2. They will never allow traffic to back up in the tunnel. They will use the stop lights outside of the tunnel, in both directions, to regulate the flow of traffic to ensure no one is actually sitting in the tunnel and not moving.
3. Trucks carrying hazardous material (hazmat) will shut the tunnel down on the hour during winter when Loveland Pass is closed, again check for travel conditions.
4. Read the highway signs– they give good insight into weather conditions and drive times.
5. When driving in winter please make sure you have good tires, and always travel with food, water, and blankets– just in case! What is normally an hour drive from the tunnel to Denver can quickly become 3 – 4 hours in the right (or worst) conditions. Plan accordingly!

Great long tunnel. On the way down the mountain to Denver there is always traffic back up. Our radio is always blocked by the mountain, which makes me want to lower the rating to a 3. However, I will give the tunnel a 5 for the following reason.
For fun we tell our kid to hold his breathe. He’s not made it from end to end without breathing. He needs to work on his perseverance!

What’s cooler than a hole bored through a mountain?
Not much right?
Unless that hole is filled with miles of cars at a complete standstill. But even then, I’d prefer being stuck for an extra 45 minutes and creep along at 15mph than grab my mountain climbing gear and climb up and over a mountain for the next 2 weeks.
Oh, wait… I don’t own mountain climbing gear. Never mind.
Holes bored through mountains are the coolest!

The furthest west I have ever been and I got to go through the Eisenhower-​Johnson Memorial Tunnel.
It makes me laugh sometimes when I think of all the things one can review on Unilocal.Reviewing a tunnel just makes me grin from ear to ear.
A previous reviewer mentioned that this is the highest elevation tunnel in the world. That’s cool, in my own backyard too.
Modern marvels always mesmerize me. This tunnel is so long that the holding your breath game may not work but if you want to give it a try just make sure you’re the passenger.
Can’t wait for the next time I get to use this tunnel. Maybe I’ll be able to check in next time.

It was A OK today.
We were taking bets if it would be snowing on the other side if the tunnel or not. So we placed our bets and continued to drive. It’s been a long standing tradition to start to scream as loud as you can all the way through the tunnel. This one is just a tad long to be able to do it the whole way through in one breath. People get a little annoyed when you honk your horn to hear the echo in the tunnel.
I won the bet… it was still snowing!

The tunnel does occasionally close when there’s a snowstorm or a large accident. Don’t take the alternate route, just wait it out! The alternate routes are loner, more treacherous, and take longer than clearing the tunnel.

I bet you can’t hold your breath the whole length of this tunnel! You get you pass under the Continental Divide where you could amaze your friends with fun facts about what that actually means. Plus if you have a chill driver the passengers could play the Eisenhower Tunnel drinking game so you will have a beautiful buzz before you get to whichever ski resort you are going to or whatever activity you are partaking in.

Thank you, Eisenhower Tunnel, for getting me from one side of the Continental Divide to the other. You are long and not very pretty to look at but you are a modern marvel of the 20^th century and an amazing feat of engineering. Colorado absolutely wouldn’t be the same without you.

Yeah — gigantic tunnels!
As long as no «highly explosive» truck is going thru — it’s a great drive!

Am I really reviewing a tunnel?
Um… Okay. Sure.
There are holes on either end and it goes through a mountain.
A really big mountain.
Something about a «Continental Divide» or whatever.
It’s kind of a Big Deal.

There is something really exciting about passing through the Eisenhower tunnel. About the only thing I find annoying is that the Unilocal app won’t let me check in whenever I go through it, but that’s not the tunnel’s fault!

The Eisenhower-​Johnson Memorial Tunnel, is a dual-​bore, four-​lane vehicular tunnel approximately 60 mi west of Denver. The Tunnel carries Interstate 70 under the Continental Divide, and at a maximum elevation of 11,158 ft. It is one of the highest vehicular tunnels in the world, and the longest driving one through a mountain. It was completed in 1979, and one of the last major pieces of the Interstate Highway system to be completed. The westbound bore is named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the U.S. President for whom the Interstate system is also named. The eastbound bore is named for Edwin C. Johnson, a governor and U.S. Senator who lobbied for an Interstate Highway to be built across Colorado.
It’s an amazing scenic drive in either direction, and humbling when you realize the technical skill, labour, and time it took to build this. I also wonder how often those emergency truck ramps get used and with some guilt, wish I could see it in action! However, to fully appreciate this engineering marvel, I’ve taken the old Highway 6 route over the Loveland Pass (weather permitting) and speculated how it used to be. And in the winter, bring your skis.

Hey this is a great way to get across the divide! Beats a mule over it. Although I wish traffic did not get backed up here every weekend.
however do prefer to ski over it.
Try to hold your breath next time you go through it.

How can you not be amazed when you drive through the Eisenhower Tunnel? I can’t even fathom the process of boring through that much mountainside to make it so easy peasy for us to get to the western slope.
Did you know it’s the highest vehicle tunnel in the world? Yeah! Uh huh. Google it.
p. s. For the love of Pete, please don’t speed in there. Can you imagine what it would be like to wreck or get stuck? Scary!

The Eisenhower Tunnel is the longest mountain tunnel and highest point on the Interstate Highway system; and is really fun to drive through. Be sure to give your horn a honk along the way.