To the Hayward Fault!
Today this is an easily overlooked gate leading into the hillside on the Berkeley campus. However, this unmarked door is the entrance to the Lawson Adit, a 260 ft horizontal mine tunnel. The first 200 feet of the tunnel were dug starting in 1916 to give UC Berkeley mining and metallurgy students practice in a range of techniques. In 1939 the adit was extended 900 feet so that it would directly intersect the
Hayward Fault. While this extension allowed for direct study of the Hayward Fault, there are obvious potential issues with building a tunnel to a major fault - as one might expect, much of the tunnel near the fault eventually collapsed.
The adit is no longer in use, but if you bring a flashlight to the GZ you can peer into its depths ... somewhere back there, through the timber-reinforced walls and fallen rocks lurks the Hayward Fault, biding its time ...
We hope you enjoy your visit to this slightly strange, tucked-away piece of UC Berkeley's history.
You obviously do NOT enter the adit to recover this cache (padlocked! safety!).
For a busy campus the muggle traffic in this area is usually minimal, but still be prepared for some stealth. There is street-parking nearby. If you're in a hurry you can also drive directly to the GZ via the road that runs around Hearst Memorial Mining Building; just make sure to stay near your car in case parking enforcement shows up.
Getting good coordinates here can be challenging due to buildings and terrain; the given coordinates should get you to where the door to the adit is easily identified.
For more information about the Lawson Adit (and the source material for this page), visit the Lawson Adit on
Wikipedia.
Please replace as found!
Congrats to panda ellie on the FTF!