Cricket and Crest Tunnels, Railroad tunnels in Boone County, US

The Cricket and Crest Tunnels are two railroad tunnels near Omaha in Boone County, Arkansas, built by the White River Division of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The Cricket Tunnel, 2,657 feet long, passes under Old United States Route 65 south of Omaha; its concrete-finished northwest portal has retaining walls and a projecting cornice, while the southeast portal was cut straight from bedrock. The Crest Tunnel, 3,500 feet long, runs under Arkansas Highway 14 northwest of Omaha and is bored entirely through bedrock.

The White River Division of the Missouri Pacific Railroad built both tunnels in 1903–05. Clay and watery mud slowed the Cricket Tunnel, and a rockslide struck it in September 1904. A concrete lining went in during 1906 over rockfall fears, and in 1916 the roof was removed from its southern 500 feet. Both tunnels were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

Both tunnels were built by the White River Division of the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1903-05, and the line they carry passes under Old US Route 65 south of Omaha and under Arkansas Highway 14 northwest of Omaha. The tunnels were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

These tunnels are located near Omaha in Boone County and can be viewed from nearby roads that pass over them. Since the passages run underground, finding vantage points from the surface above provides the best way to appreciate their scale and construction.

The Crest Tunnel is the longest railroad tunnel in Arkansas at 3,500 feet, and the only curved one in the state, bending near its southwestern portal. Unlike the Cricket Tunnel, which was cut through mud and watery clay and needed a concrete lining added in 1906, the Crest Tunnel runs entirely through bedrock. Its northwest portal was left unfinished.