I don't know if the tunnel is intact. It's closed up on the Oakland side - I've tried hiking up to it; and there is a chainlink gate and fence on the road on the Orinda side, so you can go only so far up. The "toll plaza" on the Oakland side is still there. On Old Tunnel Road, you can see a concrete island with a metal plate indicating that the tunnel was built by the Merchant's Association in Oakland.

My Grandfather and one of his brothers were two of the origional founders of the Oakland Scavenger Company and when my Father was little they used to keep the horses they used in his backyard in West Oakland and the wagons across the street at his uncle's. On Sundays they would hitch the horses to the wagons and go up the hills and through this tunnel and out to Lafeyette to get hay for the horses for the week (an all day job). My Mom who often road through this tunnel in a car said it looked just like a gold mine and was quite scarey. I can only imagine what my Grandfather must have thought in there on a horse and wagon!

The tunnel is intact, more or less, but blocked at either end. This according to a CalTrans engineer I spoke with a couple of years ago. There's been intermittent talk of reopening it to bike traffic, but the big problem, which was ALWAYS the problem with this tunnel, is water.

Geocachers: The spot is the location of the old tunnel before the Caldecott's were built. See the street sign? If you were to go on the other side of the hills either over or through them, you'll see Tunnel Rd on that side too. The location of where the actual portal was on that side is on private property I'm pretty sure. Anyone know if this tunnel is still intact?

Just checked out a topo on this area and it looks like the elevation on this west side is approximately 1060 feet. 1035 feet on the eastern side.