Jardine's Lookout Tunnel [????- ]

Submitted by Craig on Thu, 03/12/2009 - 18:31
Current condition
Unknown

Location: 22.265981’N, 114.201143’E

I started near Parkview and took the Hong Kong Tail up to Jardine’s Lookout. On way down toward the quarry, about 250m from the top, I noticed a small path on my right heading off in the hillside, which I followed for about 80m with Parkview right in front of me. I looked down and saw a small hole, which under closer inspection appeared to lead into a larger tunnel. The Hole was rather small and I didn’t fancy squeezing myself into it, so I walked the direction the tunnel looked to go. About 30m away, heading toward Tai Tam reservoir, I came across a large tunnel opening.

Description: This looks like it could be a big one (I know I have said that before). However it is on a 45 degree angle down, and with it being damp and slippery, I didn’t fancy sliding down into the abyss with no help at hand.

Jardine's Lookout Tunnel

 

Photos that show this Place

Comments

Craig, another interesting one. I'm curious to hear whether the two downward sloping tunnel entrances you've found turn out to be different inside. All the others we've seen have been flat. I wonder if they get a lot of mud washed down into them?

Looking at your photos, I think we saw that first small hole (the dead tree next to it looks familiar). My friend dropped inside, but thought it was just a chamber (which in hindsight seems unlikely). Good work finding the entrance.

MrB

PS If you've created a place, when you upload an image you can give it the same place, and the photo automatically gets linked to the place. I edited your latest batch of photos to do that,  so you can see the results above. Just takes a couple of seconds when editing the image, so it's quicker than having to insert all the images afterwards.

 

I went back to the Tunnel today for a proper look around.

It was quite a good one.  You first go down a slope about 10m, The are remains of small stairs caved into the side, but due to mud being washed into it, it is now a slope. At the bottom of the slope it turns a couple corners and down a longer corridor where it turns again. Just at this junction there is another tunnel that leads up some stairs, around a corner, to a small lookout hole facing the Quarry. If you don’t go up the stairs, follow the tunnel through to another exit in the thick bushes on the hillside also facing the quarry.

I would say the Tunnel system was about 60m.

I went back to the first little hole that I saw the first time that leads into a tunnel to find other entrances, but to no avail.  

Jardine's Lookout Tunnel
Jardine's Lookout, Tunnel
Jardine's Lookout Tunnel

 

Jardine's Lookout Tunnel
Jardine's Lookout Tunnel
Jardine's Lookout Tunnel
Jardine's Lookout Tunnel
Jardine's Lookout Tunnel

 

Craig, glad you had a chance to visit it again, and the map & photos are great. So it starts with the first entrance you found on the south of the ridge, then runs under the ridge and comes out with the 'East exit' and observation hole on the north? Should the east exit be the 'west exit'?

The large tunnel network at the bottom of the hill, and the one up towards Mt Butler both have exits that are a bit like the observation hole you describe. They make the entrance very hard to spot from the outside, and also give protection to the person standing there. On the other hand I think they'd have made it slower to get in and out of the tunnel.

I was a little bit confused with the location. In case helps others I add a screenshot of the OSM marking the main entrance (22.265791° N 114.201190° E), that it is exactly on the slightly bushier path on the East side. The second entrance/exit is just North of it. The connecting sandy path down is not marked on OSM. Hole completely obstructed with the brown mark.

Entrance JLO East tunnel
Entrance JLO East tunnel, by hkoutdooradventures