Portland’s underground holds secrets that most visitors walk right over without ever realizing it. Beneath the busy streets of Old Town lies a maze of dim passageways once tied to kidnapping, smuggling, and the rough realities of the city’s early days.
The air down there feels heavier, the walls colder, and the stories far darker than the lively bars and restaurants above would suggest.
The Haunted Underground Shanghai Tunnels Tour brings you face to face with that hidden history, blending documented events with chilling accounts of unexplained activity. I descended those narrow staircases myself, unsure what to expect, and quickly realized this wasn’t just another history lesson.
Standing in those shadowy corridors, imagining what happened there, changed the way I look at Portland forever.
Nina’s Restless Presence
Walking through the basement of Old Town Pizza & Brewing, I felt the temperature drop before our guide even mentioned her name. Nina is the most famous resident of these tunnels, a spirit who has made herself known to staff and visitors for decades.
She moves objects when you’re not looking, turns off lights at the most inconvenient moments, and creates an atmosphere that makes even skeptics pause.
Workers at the brewery have reported tools disappearing and reappearing in different locations, always when Nina seems to want attention.
The guide shared stories of guests who’ve felt cold hands on their shoulders in empty corridors. Some have captured unexplained orbs in photographs, while others have heard whispers in the darkness where no living person stands.
Nina’s presence isn’t threatening, but she’s persistent. She wants you to know she’s there, watching from the shadows of these Oregon tunnels.
Her story connects directly to the building’s past, making her one of the most documented paranormal residents in Portland’s underground network.
The Dark Practice of Shanghaiing
History books don’t always tell you the ugliest truths, but these tunnels do. Shanghaiing was a brutal practice that thrived in Portland during the 1800s, and standing in those narrow passages, I could almost hear the echoes of desperate struggles.
Men were drugged in saloons above, then dragged through trapdoors into these underground corridors.
They’d wake up miles offshore, already aboard ships bound for Shanghai or other distant ports, forced into labor they never agreed to.
The system was horrifyingly efficient. Corrupt boarding house operators worked with ship captains who needed crews, and the tunnels provided the perfect hidden highway for this human trafficking operation.
Women weren’t spared either, as the practice expanded to include anyone who could be sold. The tour doesn’t shy away from these uncomfortable facts, making it clear that Portland’s growth came with a terrible cost.
Walking where victims once walked creates a connection to Oregon’s darker chapters that no textbook can match.
Exclusive Underground Access
Most of Portland’s tunnel system has been sealed off, destroyed, or converted into modern basements that bear no resemblance to their original purpose. What makes this tour special is the authenticity of what you’re seeing beneath your feet.
Old Town Pizza sits atop the largest remaining intact section of the original tunnel network. When I ducked through those low doorways and navigated around century-old support beams, I was walking through genuine history, not a recreation or museum display.
The brick walls show their age in every crack and water stain. Wooden supports installed in the 1800s still hold up the floors above, creaking occasionally as modern traffic passes overhead on Oregon streets.
You can reach out and touch surfaces that kidnapping victims touched, stand in spaces where smugglers once conducted their illegal business. This direct physical connection to the past creates an experience that polished historical sites simply cannot replicate.
The tour operators have preserved rather than renovated, keeping the claustrophobic, unsettling atmosphere intact.
Portland’s Criminal Underworld
Shanghaiing was just one piece of a much larger criminal network operating beneath Portland’s streets. The tunnels served multiple purposes, all of them illegal, all of them profitable for those running the operations.
Opium dens flourished in these hidden spaces, providing escape for some and addiction for many others. I saw the small rooms where people once lay on wooden platforms, lost in drug-induced hazes while the city above went about its business.
Illegal gambling operations ran constantly, with card games and dice tables set up in chambers connected by narrow passages that allowed quick escapes during police raids. The tunnel system provided the perfect infrastructure for organized crime to thrive.
Smugglers moved goods through these corridors, avoiding customs officials and taxes. Everything from Chinese imports to stolen merchandise flowed through this underground highway, enriching criminals while city authorities struggled to control what they couldn’t see.
Standing in those rooms, I understood how Portland’s respectable surface hid a thriving shadow economy that shaped Oregon’s development.
Location and Age Requirements
Finding the tour is easy once you know where to look. At 226 NW Davis Street, Old Town Pizza & Brewing occupies a historic building just steps from the beautiful Lan Su Chinese Garden, making it simple to combine cultural experiences in one visit to this Oregon neighborhood.
The age restrictions exist for practical reasons tied to the brewery setting. Most tours require guests to be twenty-one or older since the experience concludes with alcohol tastings in a licensed establishment.
However, the operators recognize that younger visitors also want to explore Portland’s haunted history. They offer select daytime tours that welcome guests aged thirteen to twenty, giving families and teenagers access to the tunnels.
I recommend checking the schedule carefully when booking, as the all-ages tours fill up quickly. The twenty-one-plus tours run more frequently, especially during evening hours when the spooky atmosphere intensifies.
The location near Chinatown makes parking challenging, so plan to use public transportation or arrive early to find street parking in the surrounding blocks.
Physical Demands and Conditions
Before you book, understand that this isn’t a wheelchair-accessible museum experience. The tunnels exist as they did over a century ago, which means navigating challenging physical spaces that weren’t designed for modern comfort or safety standards.
Steep staircases lead down into the underground network, and you’ll climb back up at the end. The passages are narrow enough that larger guests sometimes need to turn sideways, and low-hanging pipes require constant attention to avoid painful encounters.
Dust accumulates in these Oregon tunnels despite regular tours, so anyone with respiratory sensitivities should consider bringing an inhaler. The air feels thick and old, carrying the mustiness of spaces that never see sunlight.
Lighting is intentionally kept dim to maintain atmosphere, which means watching your footing becomes crucial. I wore closed-toe shoes with good traction, and I’m glad I did when navigating uneven floors and unexpected steps.
The tour lasts ninety minutes, with most of that time spent standing and moving through tight spaces. Physical fitness isn’t required, but mobility limitations could make the experience difficult or impossible.
Prohibition-Era Smuggling Operations
When America banned alcohol in 1920, Portland’s tunnels found new purpose. The same passages that once moved kidnapped sailors now transported illegal liquor, keeping the city’s speakeasies stocked despite federal law.
Hidden rooms that I walked through still show evidence of this era. Old-fashioned storage areas once held barrels and bottles, carefully concealed from authorities who rarely ventured into the underground maze.
The tunnel system’s complexity made it ideal for bootleggers. Multiple entrances and exits meant that even if police discovered one route, smugglers could simply use another.
The network connected basements throughout Old Town, creating an invisible distribution system.
Our guide pointed out modifications made during Prohibition, showing how criminals adapted the existing infrastructure for their needs. False walls, hidden compartments, and quick-escape routes turned these Oregon tunnels into a bootlegger’s paradise.
Some of the most successful speakeasy operators in Portland built their entire businesses around tunnel access. They could receive shipments, store inventory, and move products all without ever appearing on street level where authorities might spot them.
National Recognition and Fame
This isn’t some locally hyped attraction that only residents know about. The Shanghai Tunnels have earned recognition from some of the most respected names in travel journalism, putting Portland’s underground on the national paranormal map.
Conde Nast Traveler featured the tunnels in their coverage of America’s most haunted locations. USA Today readers voted it among the top spooky destinations in the country, while Thrillist included it in their must-visit haunted places.
These accolades come from the combination of authentic history, documented paranormal activity, and the unique access that this Oregon tour provides. You’re not just hearing stories; you’re standing in the actual locations where those stories unfolded.
The media attention has made the tour increasingly popular, with visitors coming from across the country specifically to experience these tunnels. I met people from five different states during my tour, all drawn by the reputation that these underground passages have earned.
Despite the fame, the tour maintains its authenticity. The operators haven’t commercialized or sanitized the experience to appeal to mass tourism, keeping the raw, unsettling atmosphere intact.
Complete Tour Experience
From start to finish, the ninety-minute experience delivers everything promised and more. I arrived at Old Town Pizza not knowing quite what to expect, and I left with stories I’m still sharing months later.
The guided portion takes you through multiple sections of the tunnel system, with your guide sharing both historical facts and paranormal encounters. They don’t rush, allowing time for questions and for the atmosphere to sink in properly.
Each section reveals different aspects of the tunnels’ past, from kidnapping operations to smuggling routes to the spirits that supposedly remain. The narrative builds naturally, connecting individual stories into a comprehensive picture of Portland’s underground history.
You can discuss what you’ve seen with fellow tour members while sampling local craft selections that showcase Oregon’s brewing excellence.
The tour operators clearly love what they do, and that enthusiasm makes the experience memorable. They’ve found the right balance between entertainment and education, creating something that satisfies both history enthusiasts and paranormal believers.
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