Today was our final "southern" travel day, going off the beaten path (Interstate 75) to travel to the Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. 

 

Cumberland Gap (elevation 1,600 ft (490 m)) is a pass through the Cumberland Mountains region of the Appalachian Mountains, at the junction of the U.S. states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. Famous in American history for its role as one key passageway through the lower central Appalachians, it was an important part of the Wilderness Road and is now part of the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Long used by Native Americans, the Cumberland Gap was brought to the attention of settlers in 1750 by Dr. Thomas Walker, a Virginia physician and explorer. The path was widened by a team of loggers led by Daniel Boone, making it accessible to pioneers who used it to journey into the western frontiers of Kentucky and Tennessee.

 

 

It is estimated that between 200,000 and 300,000 migrants passed through the gap on their way into Kentucky and the Ohio Valley before 1810. Today 18,000 cars pass beneath the site daily, and 1,200,000 people visit the park on the site annually.

Journals provided first-hand stories of the difficulties
encountered by 1,000's of pioneers coming rhough
Cumberland Gap

Beautiful painting at the visitor center depicting the
pioneers heading through the gap toward the promise of
a better future

Both the North and the South needed to control the
Cumberland Gap region during the Civil War

After driving up about 4 miles of switchbacks, we reached
the Pinnacle Overlook

Our view of the Historical Cumberland Gap

Pyramid Peak...at which the Tri-States of
Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia connect

Some of the rocky scenery found at the top
of Pinnacle Peak

Now our southern adventures have come back to the northern reality of cold and snow. We had a great time exploring 4 National Parks, 8 National Monuments/Memorials/Preserves, a National Battlefield, and a National Seashore...not to mention 4 amazing days and nights at Disney World and a great day spent at Kennedy Space Center!