The feel of many histories is palpable on this moderate three-mile trek, including a section restored to evoke the times of Daniel Boone.
Photo Above: The view from Pinnacle Overlook is of Tri-State Peak, Cumberland Mountain and Fern Lake.
Photos Courtesy of Leonard M. and Laurie Adkins.
In my travels I have been in two states at once on numerous occasions. On Peters Mountain on the Appalachian Trail, I walked with one foot in Virginia and one in West Virginia. Farther north on the trail, I did the same with New Jersey and New York. Standing in the middle of the main street in Bristol, I was in Tennessee while I was also in Virginia. And on a sidewalk in Copperhill, Tennessee, I straddled the Tennessee/Georgia line. On a recent excursion to eastern Kentucky, I was able to up those experiences by one:
There’s so much history, natural beauty and scenic wonders on this moderate walk in Cumberland Gap National Park that it’s hard to grasp it all, much less describe everything to be experienced in the short space of this column.
The outing begins by rising on an easy grade along an old roadway that was once the route of US 25E through the gap. It’s now called the Object Lesson Road Trail, in reference to a federal project that sought to improve highways in the early 1900s.
It’s only 0.6 mile to the actual gap through the Cumberland Mountains. I have stood on historic ground in countless places, but for some reason, in this spot, my mind’s eye vividly sees many of the events that have taken place here. Abundant eastern bison beating a path into the gap in search of salt licks. Shawnee and Cherokee passing through in pursuit of game. Daniel Boone’s party widening the trail, opening up what was then America’s western frontier to throngs of settlers who subsequently followed. Herds of hogs driven from Kentucky to eastern markets in the early 1800s.
Towhees and thrashers were chirping at such a rapid pace when we turned onto the slightly steeper Tri-State Peak Trail that it seemed they were indignant we had dared to invade their private domain. Detailed rock work on the floor of the summit’s covered pavilion illustrated the importance of the point. I put one foot in Virginia, the other in Tennessee and, leaning down, both hands in Kentucky. Voila, I existed in three different states simultaneously!
We took advantage of a power line cut to gaze onto Middlesboro before heading back to the parking lot via the Wilderness Road Trail. Once again, there was a strong sense of walking on historic ground, especially since the park service has restored a segment of the pathway to resemble what it looked like in Boone’s day.
We drove the Pinnacle View Road from the parking lot to take one more short (0.2-mile roundtrip) walk to what is probably the best view in the entire park (and along the way to have one foot in Kentucky and one in Virginia). The small town of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee is directly below the Pinnacle Overlook, while Tri-State Peak, Cumberland Mountain and Fern Lake dominate the broad horizon to the west.
Oh, one last thing. Laurie got another stamp in her national parks passport book—just under 370 more national parks to visit to completely fill in the book.
When You Go
The Walk: A moderate three-mile (roundtrip) outing to Tri-State Peak in Cumberland Gap National Park.
Getting there: From the park service visitor center in Middlesboro, Kentucky, drive the Pinnacle View Road for one mile to the Thomas Walker parking area.
More information: Trail maps and a wealth of other park information are on nps.gov/cuga.
Dinner and Another Walk
After cooked-to-perfection sirloin steak and yummy garlic mashed potato dinners at Shades Café and Steakhouse in downtown Middlesboro, Laurie and I crossed the street for a stroll along the Historic Canal Walk. It’s a short paved pathway beside tree-lined Yellow Creek, whose resident ducks provided some early evening entertainment.
Find out more about Leonard’s walking and hiking adventures at habitualhiker.com.
The story above first appeared in our March / April 2023 issue.
