Cumberland Gap

Photograph of the Cumberland Gap in winter

The Cumberland Gap is a narrow pass through the Cumberland Mountains. It is a part of the Appalachian Mountains. It is near the junction of the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. First used by Native Americans, it was famous during American colonial history as an important path through the lower Appalachians. In 1775 the trail was started by Daniel Boone.^[1] Over the next 35 years, over 300,000 Settlers used it to get to the western borders of Kentucky and Tennessee.^[1] It was an important part of the Wilderness Road. It is now part of the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.^[2]

Cumberland Gap Media

Cumberland Mountains ridge line looking southwest with Tennessee on the left and Kentucky on the right from Cumberland Gap.
Map showing Cumberland Gap in relation to the Wilderness Road route from Virginia to Kentucky
Union soldiers passing through Cumberland Gap, 1863
This is a remnant from when US 25E was routed through Cumberland Gap, TN before the Cumberland Gap Tunnel opened in 1996. It is at the corner of Brooklyn Street and Colwyn Street, right next to the U.S. Post office.
Vice President Richard Nixon at the Pinnacle Interpretive Shelter during his visit to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park to attend the dedication of the park's Visitor Center (Mission 66 project), July 1959.
Construction of the Cumberland Gap Tunnel in 1991
The saddle of Cumberland Gap along the Wilderness Road

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 "The Wilderness Road". History/A&E Television Networks, LLC. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
↑ "Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, KY,TN,VA". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 10 February 2016.

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