| Cumberland Gap | |
|---|---|
 The Cumberland Gap viewed from the town ofCumberland Gap, Tennessee in 2025 | |
| Elevation | 1,631 ft (497 m)[1] |
| Traversed by |  US 25E |
| Location |  Kentucky Tennessee Virginia United States |
| Range | Cumberland Mountains |
| Coordinates | 36°36′15″N83°40′25″W / 36.6041°N 83.6737°W /36.6041; -83.6737 |
| Topo map | USGS Middlesboro South |
TheCumberland Gap is apass in theeasternUnited States through the long ridge of theCumberland Mountains, within theAppalachian Mountains and near thetripoint ofKentucky,Virginia, andTennessee. At anelevation of 1,631 feet (497 m) abovesea level, it is famous inAmerican colonial history for its role as a key passageway through the lower central Appalachians.
Long used by Native American nations, the Cumberland Gap was brought to the attention of settlers in 1750 byThomas Walker, a Virginia physician and explorer. The path was used by a team of frontiersmen led byDaniel Boone, making it accessible to pioneers who used it to journey into the western frontiers of Kentucky and Tennessee. An important part of theWilderness Road, it is now part of theCumberland Gap National Historical Park.
The Cumberland Gap is one of manypasses in the Appalachian Mountains, but one of the few in the continuous Cumberland Mountain ridgeline.[2] It lies withinCumberland Gap National Historical Park and is located on the border of present-dayKentucky andVirginia, approximately 0.25 miles (0.40 km) northeast of thetri-state marker withTennessee.[3]
The V-shaped gap serves as a gateway to the west. The base of the gap is about three hundred feet (90 m) above the valley floor, even though the north side of the pass was lowered twenty feet (6 m) during the construction of OldU.S. Route 25E. To the south, the ridge rises six hundred feet (180 m) above the pass, while to the north the Pinnacle Overlook towers 900 feet (270 m) above at an elevation of 2,505 feet (765 m).[3]
Centrally located in theeastern United States, the region around Cumberland Gap experiences all four seasons. The summers are typically sunny, warm, and humid with average high temperatures in the mid to upper 80s °F (29-32 °C). In the winter months, January through March, temperatures range in the 30s to 40s °F (0s °C) and are generally mild with rain and few periods of snow.[4]
The nearest cities areMiddlesboro, Kentucky andHarrogate, Tennessee. The nearby town ofCumberland Gap, Tennessee is named after the gap.
The gap was formed by the development of three major structural features: the Pine Mountain Thrust Sheet, the Middlesboro Syncline, and theRocky Face Fault. Lateral compressive forces of sedimentary rocks from deep layers of the Earth's crust pushing upward 320 to 200 million years ago created the thrust sheet. Resistance on the fault from the opposing Cumberland Mountain toPine Mountain caused the U-shaped structure of the Middlesboro Syncline. The once flat-lying sedimentary rocks were deformed roughly 40 degrees northwest. Further constriction to the northwest of Cumberland Mountain developed into a fault trending north-to-south called the Rocky Face Fault, which eventually cut through Cumberland Mountain. This combination of natural geological processes created ideal conditions for weathering and erosion of the rocks.[2]
The discovery of the Middlesboro impact structure has proposed new details in the formation of Cumberland Gap. Less than 300 million years ago a meteorite, "approximately the size of a football field", struck the earth, creating theMiddlesboro Crater.[2] One of threeastroblemes in the state, it is a 3.7 mi (6.0 km) diametermeteoriteimpact crater[5] with the city of Middlesboro, Kentucky built entirely inside it.[6] Detailed mapping by geologists in the 1960s led many to interpret the geological features of the area to be the site of an ancient impact.[2] In 1966Robert Dietz discoveredshatter cones in nearbysandstone, proving recent speculation. Shatter cones, a rock-shattering pattern naturally formed only duringimpact events, are found in abundance in the area. The presence of shatter cones found also helped confirm the origin of the impact. In September 2003, the site was designated a Distinguished Geologic Site by the Kentucky Society of Professional Geologists.[5]
Without the Rocky Face Fault, it would have been difficult for pack-horses to navigate this gap and the gap in Pine Mountain nearPineville, and it would be improbable that wagon roads would have been constructed at an early date. Middlesboro is the only place in the world wherecoal is mined inside an astrobleme. Special mining techniques must be used in the complicated strata of this crater.[7]
The earliest written account of Cumberland Gap dates to the 1670s, byAbraham Wood of Virginia.[8] Sometime before 1748,Samuel Stalnaker is believed to have passed through the gap while exploring the region.[9]
The gap was named forPrince William, Duke of Cumberland, son of KingGeorge II of Great Britain, who had many places named for him in the American colonies after theBattle of Culloden.[10] The explorerThomas Walker gave the name to theCumberland River in 1750, and the name soon spread to many other features in the region, such as the Cumberland Gap. In 1769Joseph Martin built a fort nearby at present-dayRose Hill, Virginia, on behalf of Walker's land claimants. But Martin and his men were chased out of the area by Native Americans, and Martin did not return until 1775.[11]
In 1775Daniel Boone, hired by theTransylvania Company, arrived in the region leading a company of men to widen the path through the gap to make settlement of Kentucky and Tennessee easier. On his arrival, Boone discovered that Martin had already arrived inPowell Valley, where Martin and his men were clearing land for their own settlement – the westernmost settlement in English colonial America at the time.[12] By the 1790s, the trail that Boone and his men built had been widened to accommodate wagon traffic and became known as theWilderness Road.
It is estimated that between 200,000 and 300,000 European-American settlers passed through the gap on their way into Kentucky and theOhio Valley before 1810.[13]
SeveralAmerican Civil War engagements occurred in and around the Cumberland Gap and are known as theBattle of the Cumberland Gap. In June 1862,Union Army GeneralGeorge W. Morgan captured the gap for theUnion. In September of that year,Confederate States Army forces underEdmund Kirby Smith occupied the gap during GeneralBraxton Bragg'sKentucky Invasion. The following year, ina bloodless engagement in September 1863, Union Army troops under GeneralAmbrose Burnside forced the surrender of 2,300 Confederates defending the gap, gaining Union control of the gap for the remainder of the war.
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The gap and associated historic resources were listed on theNational Register of Historic Places as ahistoric district on May 28, 1980.[14]
U.S. Route 25E passed overland through the gap before the completion of theCumberland Gap Tunnel in 1996. The original trail was then restored.[15] A s of 1996, 18,000 cars pass beneath the site daily, and 1.2 million people visit the park on the site annually. The park features many hiking trails.[13]
Within the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park there are currently 855 known species ofvascular plants identified, but that number is expected to increase with reports fromNational Park Service inventory and monitoring programs. There are 15 variousvegetation communities throughout the park, with some of them in special locations, such as mountain bogs, low-elevation wetlands, and rocky bluffs.[16]
Of the 371 species of animals listed as of 2014 within the park, 33 aremammals, 89 arebirds, 29amphibians, 15reptiles, 27fish, and 187 areinsects, however many others remain to be included. Visitors to the park can expect to seegray squirrels,white-tailed deer,cottontail rabbits,songbirds,hawks,snakes,turtles, and perhapsblack bear orbobcat.[17] Over 120 species of birds have been logged in the park on the websiteeBird.[18]
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The gap has been mentioned in many songs and is the title of many, including:
joseph martin cumberland gap.
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