Cascade Tunnel
![Cascade Tunnel eastern portal](/Images/godic/202501/03/BNSF_Scenic-Sub-1700-Cascade-Tunnel0548.jpg")
![Cascade Tunnel routes](/Images/godic/202501/03/Cascade_Tunnel_Stevens_Pass,jpg0548.jpg")
![The Oriental Limited emerging from the old tunnel in 1918. The train was being pulled by an electric locomotive.](/Images/godic/202501/03/Great_Northern_Railway_Oriental_Limited_Cascade_Tunnel_19180548.JPG")
![Postcard illustration of the old and new tunnels from the Great Northern Railway.](/Images/godic/202501/03/Cascade_Tunnel_Great_Northern_Railway_illustration0548.JPG")
The Cascade Tunnel refers to two tunnels at Stevens Pass through the Cascade Mountains, approximately 65 miles (105 km) to the east of Everett, Washington. The first Cascade Tunnel was a 2.63-mile-long (4.23 km) single-track railroad, built by the Great Northern Railway in 1900 to avoid problems caused by heavy winter snowfalls on the original line that had eight zig zags (switchbacks). The second tunnel, a 7.79-mile (12.54 km) single-track replacement of the earlier tunnel, was put in service on January 12, 1929, and is still in operation, connecting Berne in Chelan County on its east with Scenic Hot Springs in King County on its west. It is the longest railroad tunnel in the United States.