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THE PARK:
Wandering animals,
buffalo and deer, were the first to discover this natural break
in the daunting Appalachian Mountains. These migratory mammals
blazed the trail that American Indian tribes would later follow.
American settlers
seemed destined to be bottled up on the East Coast until April
1750 when Dr. Thomas Walker discovered the gap through the mountains.
Later, Daniel Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Gap
in 1775. Over the next 20 years, although no wagons rolled through
the pass, more than 200,000 people made the journey west into
the wilderness of Kentucky and beyond. The Cumberland Gap was
honored as a national Historic Park in 1940 and a new tunnel
through the mountains will enable the Wilderness Road to one
day be restored to its 1700s appearance.
WALKS:
The Cumberland Gap
National Historic Park encompasses more than 20,000 acres of
rich forest lands in the mountains on the Kentucky-Virginia border.
The best spot to view the gap is at Pinnacle Overlook, accessible
on a 4-mile paved road. Most visitors don't make it beyond the
overlook but canine hikers can take off on a wide, rolling walk
at the top of mountains with good views through thin trees and
from rocky perches. The Ridge Trail is an easy walk from
the campground. It runs for 19 miles through the woods on the
ridgetop; all told, there are more than 50 miles of marked trail
in the park.
To walk on the Wilderness Road, try the Tri-State Peak Trail,
a steady 1.3-mile climb around the mountain. After a narrow,
rocky beginning up switchbacks, the trail goes through the historic
gap before heading to the 1,990-foot summit on
a wide logging road. From the pavilion on the summit are views
of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.canine hikers will bring
their dogs to Fort Fisher for its seven miles of tail-friendly
white sand beaches. Head south from the Visitor Center and you
will discover nothing but open, dune-backed beach ahead of you.
BONUS:
At the base of the Tri-State Peak
Trail are the remains of a 30-foot-high, charcoal-burning blast
furnace that produced iron through much of the 19th century.
Built of limestone slid down the mountain, the Newlee Iron Furnace
was the focal point for an iron-making community here. The furnace
could produce about 3 tons of iron a day to be shipped down the
Powell River to Chattanooga.
DIRECTIONS
TO CUMBERLAND GAP NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK:
The Visitor Center is located on
the Kentucky side of the Cumberland Gap, on US 25E.
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