JHU Steam Tunnels

During my Sophomore year I somehow stole enough time away from homework and studying to explore the fabled Steam Tunnels that run under the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus.  Although I started out thinking I was pretty cool by showing my friends how how to walk between Remsen and Mudd Halls while staying out of the rain, that short passage was just the beginning of an elaborate subterranean system.

After my curiosity had been piqued I spent several weeks sneaking into the tunnels and exploring where they could lead me.  I spent most of the spring testing doors that were obviously not meant for students to go through.  After the semester ended my interest faded, but I was left with a basic map that I had compiled along the way.  I decided to keep the map to myself for a while, but now I am sharing it with future Messrs.

Before I go any further I should probably include a disclaimer: you shouldn't take advice from people on the internet, and if you do and get hurt doing it and blame the internet you are dumb.  Also while I am protecting myself: this is entire post is hypothetical.  If I had gone in the Steam Tunnels during my Sophomore year, this is what I would have found.

Now that we have that out of the way, here is the map:

 Maintenance Tunnel.  These are well lit, wide, and often populated.  No one cared when I walked by them in these tunnels.

Steam Tunnel.  These are dirty, narrow, and not well lit.  The more narrow the black line, the more narrow the actual tunnel is.  The wide tunnels allow you to comfortably walk upright, the narrowest tunnel (cutting from the Freshman Quad west towards Mergenthaler) barely allows passage moving sideways and crouched.

Entrance to one of the tunnels.  This can be anything from a loading dock (Chemistry Building) to a door, to a small cupboard door (Gilman Hall).

Crossover between the two tunnel systems where you can enter one from the other.


Vent or manhole where you can see the outside world from inside the tunnels.


I could spend several thousand words describing the intricacies of the tunnels, but I am not going to do that.  Instead I will highlight three main points which I think are important, add a couple of notes, and leave the rest up to you.

Two Tunnel Systems

I dichotomize the tunnels into two systems.  There are the 'Maintenance Tunnels which run under Mergenthaler, Mudd, Macaulay, and Dunning Halls, and the real Steam Tunnels which run under the majority of the older buildings on campus.

The Maintenance Tunnels are almost an extension of the buildings.  They are well lit hallways, which can comfortably fit two people abreast.  These tunnels were unsecured and I have walked past JHU Employees in these tunnels without any indecent.  If you are thinking of using the tunnels as an actual means of transportation then these are your only bet.

The actual Steam Tunnels are not as refined as the Maintenance Tunnels.  They are dimly (and sometimes not at all) lit, dirty, sometimes flooded, and as their name implies they have unprotected pipes running along the walls which can be hot enough to burn if you touch them.  If you are venturing into these tunnels then you certainly are up to no good.  The only legitimate reason for which I would advocate going into this tunnel system is to see what I call The Computer Room (see below).  Other than that you are simply exploring an area that you are not meant to be in.

The two systems intersect at three points:

• In front of Mudd, the Maintence Tunnel dips down and then back up.  At the bottom of this dip a door on either side of the hallway leads to the Steam Tunnels.
• In between Remsen and Dunning the  Maintence Tunnel floor has a section of several feet which is metal plate.  This metal plate is actual covering the Steam Tunnel that runs underneath.  On either side of the Maintence Tunnel are small doors that lead into the Steam Tunnel.
• The third entrance is in Remsen Hall and leads to a small loop of Steam Tunnel.

Entrances

There are four main entrances into the The Maintence Tunnels.  Three all are relatively easy to find in the Basements of Mudd, Dunning, , and Macauly Halls.  The entrance into the Maintence Tunnels from Remsen Hall is hard to describe other than to say that the entrances are directly outside of the exits from the main lecture hall.

There are many entrances into the Steam Tunnels, but only two are open reliably.  The North entrance in Maryland Hall is usually left open, and can be found at the back of the last flight of stairs in the Northern stairwell.  The second entrance is at the Western end of the basement hallway in Krieger Hall.  Although this door is locked, it is very easy to use the credit-card-swipe method on this door.  Most of the other entrances can act as exits once you are in the Steam Tunnels, but do not allow entrance into the tunnels from outside.

The Computer Room

What I call 'The Computer Room' is probably the most interesting thing I found in the Steam Tunnels, and what fueled my interest to continue exploring.  Located approximately under Latrobe Hall, this room was a small room off of the tunnel.  The room had some very old computer equipment, a couple beverage cans, and an excessive amount of what I believe were old-time computer printouts covering the entire floor.  Simply listing the contents does not properly describe how cool finding this room was.  Imagine finding an old-school hacker dungeon in the bowels of Hopkins.

Notes

• The map I provided might have some errors (specifically the Maintenance Tunnels between the Chemistry Building and Mudd Hall).