Have you ever been somewhere you shouldn't be?
Have you ever been somewhere you shouldn’t be? B4bees/CC BY 2.0

The world beneath our feet is an endless source of fascination. No wonder—it’s hidden, dark, and mysterious. As a result, many cities and towns have some kind of local legend about secret tunnels running beneath their streets. Now we want to hear the tales of hidden underground passageways from your hometown!

I’m originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, where I grew up hearing stories about a secret network of tunnels built by the LDS Church that spanned the entire city and beyond. Into adulthood I’ve been fascinated by the idea of finding these buried routes, and even embarked on a handful of unsuccessful adventures to get into them. All I ended up discovering were some decidedly non-mysterious bits of subterranean infrastructure that I probably shouldn’t have been in.

Nonetheless, the legend persists, and I’ve found that my hometown is far from the only place with a claim to some secret underground world. Many places actually do have secret tunnels under the streets, from the Tulsa Underground to the prohibition passages beneath Los Angeles. Sometimes they’re simply mundane—sewers or service areas no longer in use—and other times they’re rumored (truth notwithstanding) to have had nefarious purposes. But whether they’re real, semi-real, or complete myths, we want to hear about what people say is under your hometown.

Submit your local tunnel tales via the form below, and we’ll share our favorite responses in an upcoming round-up. Let’s explore the secret world under us all!

If you have a story of your own hidden hometown tunnels to share, head over to our community forums and tell us about it!