Cumberland Gap National Historical Park has over 85 miles of trails. Skylight Cave is a popular destination along those trails. After the Wilderness Road Trail, it is the most hiked trail in the park. But only a small number of people hike anything except the Wilderness Road Trail. A lot of people who come to …
From National Parks
Wilderness Road Trail Leads to Cumberland Gap
Wilderness Road Trail is one of the most popular trails in Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. The Wilderness Road refers to the trail widened by Daniel Boone into a road. The road led settlers into Kentucky through the Cumberland Road. Although it has been called a road since 1775, it was usually more of a …
Gap Cave Tour at Cumberland Gap NHP
The Gap Cave Tour at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park is the busiest tour in the park. The cave tour is offered every day from Memorial Day to the middle of August. After that the tour decreases to three or four days a week until the end of the September when the tours stop. The …
Iron Furnace at Cumberland Gap NHP
Sometimes people come to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and they aren’t hikers. They ask what they can drive to. The Pinnacle is the first place we send them, but the second place is the Iron Furnace. The Iron Furnace is the oldest man-made structure in the park. It is located in the town of …
First Visitors to Cumberland Gap
Last week we had our first visitors to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Although we have hundreds of visitors every day in the park, these visitors were special to us: Eric and Sandy Shaw; Steve, Amy, and Emma Winstead; Bob Walliser, Megan Spade and Cheryl Giddens. This group was the core of our Boy Scout …
Juneteenth and the Enslaved People of Kentucky
We recently celebrated Juneteenth in a special living history event at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. We had a great weekend being outside and interacting with visitors. For me, however, celebrating Juneteenth in Kentucky was a little problematic. Juneteenth is a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. It is celebrated on the anniversary of the order by Major …
Processing Flax from Plant to Linen
I have been practicing processing flax during my time here at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. My focus in doing Colonial Living History is textiles and I have a detailed talk from my time at Fort Frederica. But here at Cumberland Gap I have been able to do some hands on experimenting in processing flax. …
Dulcimer Gathering at Cumberland Gap
The Dulcimer Gathering at Cumberland Gap was held the first week that Tom and I were working at the park. It was a delightful introduction to the park programs and gave us another way to meet and interact with folks. Volunteer Julie, of course, was the one who told us about the Dulcimer Gathering and …
The Pinnacle at Cumberland Gap NHP
The #1 thing that people want to see when they come to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park is the Pinnacle. Who wouldn’t want to see the Pinnacle – it is the top thing! As part of our training we had to get thoroughly acquainted to the Pinnacle – able to tell how to get there …
Hensley Settlement in Cumberland Gap NHP
Tom and I had the opportunity to tour Hensley Settlement in Cumberland Gap National Historical Park on our second day of orientation. All the new rangers had to take driving training in order to lead tours a Hensley Settlement. Why driving training? Because the road to Hensley Settlement is up a mountain road requiring a …