Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

The main reason for coming to Corbin, Kentucky was to visit Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and to learn as much as we could about Daniel Boone.  We first drove to Middlesboro which is the closest town to the National Park, sitting on the border of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.  Not far, about 40 miles east of Corbin.  Of course did the 'view the movie' in the visitor's center and then drove up to the parking area of Pinnacle overlook which looks down on the 3 states.

But - the weather has been terrible.  High 90's temperature with anywhere from 85 to 93 % humidity. Just dripping in sweat.  So our hiking was somewhat limited due to the strain of walking/hiking in that kind of weather.  The walk up to the Pinnacle overlook was not long, pretty views, but we were drenched by the time we got back to the car.  Rested in the a/c then drove to the Walker parking lot and walked up the old Cumberland Road/Daniel Boone Trace to the saddle of the gap, then retreated quickly back down to the car and into a/c.  How we sweated!!!  Man.

Walk up to Pinnacle Overlook

That's not smoke, its humidity/moisture

Interesting place.  About 25 years ago the tunnel that was dug under the gap/pass was completed for traffic which left the original pathway over the gap.  The park removed the road, regraded UP to the original elevation, planted thousands of trees and plants to return it back to it's original way it was when Daniel Boone came through in 1769, his first time through.  And, this weekend marks the 250th anniversary of his passing through the Gap.  We are glad we visited the park before the people converge on the festivities.

Looking down towards Virginia and Tennessee from the Overlook

The National Park's attention was on Daniel Boone as well as Dr,  Thomas Walker who really was the first to transverse the Gap.  The Gap is a natural break in the mountains the animals such as bison, elk, deer, bears, etc. used to move up and over the mountains to the west.  Then the Shawnee and the Iroquois Indians used the pass to move back and forth.  De Soto was known to have come through the area in the late 1500's.  Then came Dr. Thomas Walker who surveyed the area, then Daniel Boone who was hired to blaze a trail for westward passage into Kentucky from the east.

Interesting thing about Middlesboro - officially recognized as the only US town built within a meteor crater.  About 300 million years ago a meteor struck there and created a huge crater.  Having an ancient river carve the Gap was a good thing for the pioneers who used it to cross over to western United States.

Having visited the park only peaked our interest in what else we could find in the area about the pioneers and Daniel Boone.  We are on a mission once we got back to the RV to find some more things.