Cumberland Gap National Park Is a Must-Visit for Anyone Who Truly Loves the Majesty and History of the Appalachians
Where do we start? Well, in a literal sense we start in a massive tunnel that runs under the mountain at the Tennessee-Kentucky Border. The Cumberland Gap Tunnel is a two-bore, four-lane work that carries U.S. 25E under Cumberland Gap National Historic Park near the intersection of the Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee state lines. It is a massive work which opened in 1996 and at least so far, the government hasn’t outlawed honking.
Why do we start with the tunnel? Well, if you’re coming from the Tennessee side, you go through it to access the majesty that is the Cumberland Gap National Park.
IN THIS ARTICLE
Known as the first Gateway to the West, Cumberland Gap is a natural break in the Appalachian Mountains. It was used by native peoples for thousands of years before European settlers used it to cross into the West. Per the park’s website, 300,000 people crossed the Appalachians through the Gap to reach the land beyond the mountains. One of them was famed frontiersman Daniel Boone, who explored the area in 1769. The park has 85 miles of trails in its 14,000 acres of wilderness, one of which will bring you to the Tripoint. That is where you can stand in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee all at once.
About the Park
The idea for a national park in the region – originally proposed to be named in honor of Abraham Lincoln – began in the early 20s. However, the idea didn’t pick up steam until 1938. That is when the National Park Service agreed to take the park into the fold if the lands were donated.
The park was established in June of 1940. FDR dedicated the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in September of that same year. However, it took until 1955 for the surrounding states to purchase the necessary land and deed it to the federal government. The official opening didn’t take place until 1959.
Today, the massive and beautiful park offers camping, hiking, and backpacking opportunities as well as gorgeous mountain views. Once a popular pathway for migrating bison, today, it is home to diverse wildlife of the sort that would be familiar to any frequent visitor to the Smokies. The park is also home to more than 30 known limestone caves, one of which is Gap Cave. It was so named by Dr. Thomas Walker in 1750. Walker had been the guardian of young Thomas Jefferson when his father died.
The Guided Tours
Gap Cave
Beginning in May, visitors to the park may take a guided tour into the famous Gap Cave, which was given many names after Walker named it. With a surveyed length of more than 18 miles, it is the 42nd longest cave in the country. After Walker and, shortly after Boone, an African American contemporary named Monk Estill passed through.
The cave was used as a saltpeter mine for generations. Gap Cave and an adjacent cave called Soldiers Cave were explored by members of the armies of both sides of the Civil War. In the 1890s, the cave – which had been called Saltpeter Cave – was again renamed as King Solomon’s Cave and opened for commercial tourism in the 1890s.
But the cave was later renamed again. This time, it was Cudjo’s Cave, named for an 1864 novel about an escaped slave who made his hideout in a cave in the Cumberland Gap.
Lincoln Memorial University, located in Claiborne County, Tennessee, bought the caverns and surrounding land in 1920. In 1934, the cave was reopened to the public. Ownership was given to Virginia in the 1940s. But commercial operators continued to run the tours until the park service acquired the cave in 1992.
Gap Cave Guided Tours
Guided tours are now provided from May to September. Reservations are required and can be made by calling the visitor center at 606-248-2817. Reservations are available up to a month in advance. Guests must wear shoes that are closed-toed and closed-heel and comfortable. You should be willing and able to handle a two-hour tour that consists of 1.5 miles of moderately strenuous exploration of three cave levels via 183 stairs.
“Visitors with health or mobility concerns should carefully consider their limitations,” the park service says.
After reserving your tour, you must go to the visitors’ center in Middlesboro and pay for the tour before 9:30 a.m. on the day of your tour. For May, Cave Tours are available Monday and Tuesday at 10 a.m. and Friday-Sunday at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The cost is $8 for adults, $4 for children 5-12 and $4 for Senior or Access interagency passes.
Hensley Settlement
Do you ever get information that you just don’t know what to do with? The Settlement began in 1903 when members of the Hensley family moved there and started a small community. The last person to leave the Hensley Settlement, which survived and prospered for 40 years, was named Sherman Hensley.
Should I make the joke that he left his deluxe apartment in the sky? I am older, and I suspect many of you are as well. How many of us remember the actor Sherman Hensley, who famously played George Jefferson in “The Jeffersons” classic sitcom? Probably too far afield for a reference, but I just can’t pass it up.
At any rate, the settlement’s history dates to 1845. That is when 500 mountain acres were deeded to a pair of brothers who leased the land, which was cleared for livestock. In 1903, the 500 acres was purchased by Burton Hensley, Sr., who divided the land into 16 parcels for various family members.
In 1903, a hog farmer named Sherman and his wife Nicey moved to property atop the mountain. They were soon joined by other families, creating a small mountaintop community that grew to as many as 100 people in 1925. For 40 years, the people of the Hensley settlement farmed, raised animals, and traded with other communities. They built a church and a school. Even as modern improvements came to other parts of the mountains, the Hensley Settlement remained isolated, with no roads or electricity. But with the coming of World War II, the community population began to dwindle as residents left to fight in the war or to go to work in the coal mines.
Sherman Hensley was the last to live in 1951. The property fell into disrepair. However, it was rescued by the Job Corps, which began making improvements in 1965, restoring more than 40 settlement structures to their former glory.
Hensley Settlement Today
Today, the settlement is essentially a living history museum with tours available from mid-May to late October. Guests can walk the idyllic mountain pastures along the top of Brush Mountain. They can visit the spring house or sit in the one-room schoolhouse. More than other preserved settlements in the mountains, the Hensley Settlement feels like stepping back through time. It feels like a living community but with no one home.
This year, the Hensley tours – which take 4.5 to 5 hours – begin May 19. To take a tour, reservations are required by at least noon the day before you want to take the tour. Arrive at the Visitors Center at least 15 minutes before the tour is scheduled to take place to check in and pay for tickets. The tours are available Friday through Monday at 10 a.m.
The Tour Prices
The cost is $10 for adults, $4 for children 12 and under and $4 for seniors or access inter-agency passes. Guests should wear comfortable shoes and bring a cold lunch that can be held on your lap during the shuttle ride from the visitors’ center to the trailhead. The walk from the trailhead to the settlement is about a mile. Visitors with health or mobility concerns should carefully consider their limitations.
Have you been to Cumberland Gap? Let us know in the comments. Are you planning a trip to the Smoky Mountains soon? Make sure to check out our coupons page before your trip!