Cumberland Gap - Kentucky/Virginia/Tennessee
N 36° 36.243 W 083° 40.410
17S E 260869 N 4054277
Cumberland Gap is one of the most famous gaps in all of the United States. It was a main thoroughfare for settlers heading west in the 1700's. One of the most famous travelers was Daniel Boone.
Waymark Code: WM3WNT
Location: Kentucky, United States
Date Posted: 05/26/2008
Views: 96
For hundreds of years before Europeans came to North America, Native Americans followed game trails across this gap. They called it Athiamiowee or "Path of the Armed Ones".
In 1673, Gabriel Arthur was probably the first European to cross the gap when he was taken by a band of Cherokees throughout the region.
It wasn't until 1750, however, before Europeans started making regular trips across the gap. Dr. Thomas Walker led a famous exploration of the area. He named the Cumberland River after Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. The name stuck to the region and soon the gap was known as the Cumberland Gap.
In 1775, Daniel Boone was hired by the Transylvania Company and he led a group of men to improve the trails across the gap so that wagons could traverse them. It is estimated that some quarter million settlers passed over the gap before 1810.
During the U.S. Civil War, the gap was contested territory and passed back and forth between the Union and the Confederacy. Some of the earthworks still exist on the mountains that tower over the gap.
In the 20th century roads were built over the gap, but in 1996, the Cumberland Gap Tunnel was built underneath it and the roads were removed and the trails restored.
Cumberland Gap is inside the Cumberland Gap National Park and over a million people visit the park each year.
Elevation (Official or GPSR reading): 1600
Mountain Range: Appalachian
Access:
Trails rise 400'-600' from Cumberland Gap, TN and the Cumberland Gap National Park Visitor's Center on the Kentucky side. Pinnacle Road also passes near the gap on its way up to Pinnacle Rock on the mountainside east of the gap. I am not sure if there is a convenient parking spot at its closest approach to the gap, however.
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Visit Instructions:
Pictures are encouraged but not required.