It's was worth the trip. It's the first railway tunnel built in Canada! It's surrounded by some breath taking scenery. There is an old caboose near by! They also have plaques throughout the blockhouse island and the down town area telling the history of Brockville from over 200 years ago! Lots of shops, cafés and restaurants. All around great place for tourists or for someone just wanting something to do with family and friends for an outing.less
If you're taking a walk around Blockhouse Island, stop in and cool off in the train tunnel, visit the caboose and the breathtaking sites of Brockville.
If in the area down by the St. Lawrence river it's worth the time to take a look. Only a short portion of the tunnel is actually walkable to where the R.R track length ends, the remainder is wet/damp and unrestored but you can still get a good look at it. There is also an old caboose nearby on the same property that you can't go in but you can look through the front and rear door windows to get a good idea of what the interior of an old caboose was like.Railway and history buffs should like this.
It's so cool that it's the first railway tunnel built in Canada! And it's surrounded by some breath taking scenery as well! There is even an old caboose near by! The tunnel is cold! Even when it's hot. And it's neat to look at some of Brockville's history from over 200 years ago! You can walk around the blockhouse island and the down town area and there are these plaques everywhere that tell you about the history and there are lots of shops and cafés and restaurants around!
Grounds area was well kept and the tunnel was kind of neat. You can only go in about 80 t0 100 feet. Enough to give you a feel for what it was like. There were some information boards describing the local history of the tunnel. Best of all was there was no entrance fee! I had read about this tunnel and stumbled upon it by accident. I'm glad I saw it but I wouldn't get off the highway just to see it. The town of Brockville has many interesting plaques with photos describing the towns history.
It is interesting that the town of Brockville maintained the entrance to this very first railway tunnel where the train towards Ottawa began in the 1800s. Historical plaques explain well the history of this particular up until the end of this railway line in 1970. You can almost hear the train coming!
Total waste of time! Don't bother going. If you would like to look into a dark stinky railway tunnel that stinks, come here.
The history of Brockville would be vastly different if not for its rail connection to the more northern settlements. Many similar structures in other cities have disappeared. This is a unique experience and well worth your time.
Right near the water, in this small town, in downtown Brockville, is a major piece of Canadian History. There is not much to see, but you have to marvel at this engineering feet, almost 200 years ago. After to visit the tunnel, you can walk along the lake and tour downtown. My 13 year old son thought this was interesting and kind of cool, as I did myself.There is metered parking in the near by park area, right next to the water.
We came here to have our family photos taken. It is a nice place not certainly not worth going out of your way to see.