Underground Driving

Has anyone driven their vehicles in those underground caverns or old mining tunnels?
I know of one site in wales where you can take your vehicle underground with a guide. Supposedly there is another WWII that you can do on guernsey or jersey, but I dont recall seeing one when I was over there last year.

If anyone has, do they have any pictures?

Jas

It is illegal to drive in old mining tunnels, and its the reasonmany have been blocked off.

I would suggest not driving in them as many are full of gas which will kill you, or they can explode, depending upon which type of gas/gases they emit.

Many natural tunnels exist and many cannot be driven as they are dangerous, but a small number can be driven as they are free of gases and the risk of them collapsing is small as they are reasonably stable.

Im hearing you.

I thought there were some set up with tours and routes available. Like a legitimate event, I recall seeing such event or meeting in total off road magazine.

TJ

Yes I remember reading about driving in tunnels, I think the caves were in France or maybe Spain.
Not sure if thier are any in the UK.

Gotta say I didn’t know of anywhere in the UK where you can drive underground, although I do know something about the one on the Continent Yoda’s referring to, so did a bit of 'digging' -

Entitled “Les Cinq Piliers” (the Five Pillars), the site is an 80km labyrinth of tunnels (evidently the height restriction is 2.10 metres) located near Compiègne, north of Paris. If you think you’ve heard of Compiègne, it’s where the armistice was signed to end WW1.

If what I have read ..

“The entire area is actually an ancient stone quarry used to build the cathedrals. Stones of Notre Dame in Paris come from there. Then all these corridors have been used by the Germans and the French’s during the wars to stockpile armaments, people, logistics… No less than 8,000 people lived underground. Scary. Now, the area belongs to a 4x4 enthusiast and he has drawn a track in some of the galleries. Don’t venture alone in the galleries, you would not come out.

Driving underground in these galleries is one of the most disturbing and curiously enjoyable experience I have lived. The weird thing is that you can not really see where you are driving, even with your head out of the window. Enjoyable it is when you realize exactly what you have been able to drive over, which is sometimes enormous gaps. I highly recommend this if you are in the area.”

TRAIL DES 5 PILIERS
151 rue des 5 Piliers
60170 Ribécourt-Dreslincourt

Apparently the man in charge is called Xavier Floret: xavier.floret@wanadoo.fr although I don’t know how current that email address is.

Couldn’t find the official website, but came across this on a Dutch forum:-

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://www.terreinrijden.nl/database_terreininformatie.asp%3FID%3D99&ei=wVMtT7r4C4fv8QPM8ZjyDg&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CHkQ7gEwBQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3DLes%2BCinq%2BPiliers%2B4x4%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D543%26prmd%3Dimvns

There were some in the UK, but these were old coal and lead mining tunnels in the sides of hills, they were closed off due to "elf and safety" because of the gases and the fact they could flood in minutes if it rained. Many reverted to potholing, but again many used for potholing were closed because of the previous dangers.

An information interesting.

Vietnam tours - Halong Vietnam

I have never seen & enjoy Underground Driving experience !

water taxi in Miami

There was me thinking the link to the water taxi was some sort to underwater 4x4 type thingy, when all the while it was nothing but blatant advertising. Disappointed Alina!!!

The FWDC ( www.fourwheeldriveclub ) have run a couple of trips to the French caves and they were VERY popular and great fun too. Unfortunately they have now been closed as they want to preserve them.

I have been trying to research some similar ones in Romania, ut I have come up against a bit of a wall....will keep looking though

maadmaan10 wrote:

The FWDC ( www.fourwheeldriveclub ) have run a couple of trips to the French caves and they were VERY popular and great fun too. Unfortunately they have now been closed as they want to preserve them.

I have been trying to research some similar ones in Romania, ut I have come up against a bit of a wall....will keep looking though

How about contacting Marcin, a friend of mine who runs Vampire 4x4 Tours in Romania, he may well know? Can't hurt asking, can even say I suggested you contact him. Worth a shot!