Day 6: Cumberland Gap, Natural Tunnel and Bluegrass at Camp
Written by Dan
The second day had some scheduled activities. However, Heather and I decided to break away from the group and do some exploring on our own. The dogs had been cooped up in the trailer, and we wanted to get them out to stretch their legs.
Cumberland Gap and Pinnacle Overlook
Instead of going to a museum, we made the 50-mile trip up to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. We drove up to Pinnacle Overlook and walked out to the viewing spot overlooking the countryside.
Pinnacle Overlook sits at about 2,440 feet, with views across Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. From the park's visitor center it's a four-mile drive up a two-lane road, followed by a short walk of about 150 yards on a paved path. Dogs are allowed there, which was good news for ours.
- Where
- Four miles up Pinnacle Road from the park's visitor center, 91 Bartlett Park Road, Middlesboro, Kentucky
- Elevation
- 2,440 ft
- The walk
- About 150 yards on a paved, accessible path
- Park info
- nps.gov/cuga
The view from Pinnacle Overlook.
Cumberland Gap is the natural doorway through the mountains that the Wilderness Road passed through. Daniel Boone and a crew of axmen cut that trail in 1775, starting at the Long Island of the Holston in present-day Kingsport, Tennessee, and more than 200,000 pioneers are said to have followed it to Kentucky.
A painted line on the pavement marks the Kentucky–Virginia state line.
We walked around a bit with the dogs, who were happy to get out and stretch their legs and explore the new area. There were lots of good smells for them.
There were also a lot of little critters that kept them occupied. Squirrels and chipmunks seemed to run across the trail in front of them, almost as if they were teasing the dogs.
Natural Tunnel State Park
Our campsite had very high water pressure, which burst one of our hoses, so we took a small detour to Lowe's to grab a new hose before returning to camp. Once we had the new fresh water hose, I got out our pressure regulator and connected it, just in case. The water pressure was a minor inconvenience, but it's easy to see why a regulator is worth having: RV plumbing is generally meant for about 40 to 50 psi, and a campground spigot can deliver far more.
We left a short while later for Natural Tunnel State Park, where we took the chairlift down to the bottom and made the short walk to the tunnel.
- Where
- Scott County, Virginia, about 13 miles north of Gate City
- Opened
- 1971
- The tunnel
- About 838 feet long and up to 80 feet high
- Chairlift
- The only one in Virginia's state park system
The tunnel is a natural passage through a ridge in Scott County, carved out of limestone and dolomite over more than a million years as groundwater dissolved the rock and Stock Creek was diverted underground to keep wearing it away. It's about 838 feet long and up to 80 feet high and 200 feet wide. William Jennings Bryan called it the "Eighth Wonder of the World," and Daniel Boone is said to have been the first European to see it. The park was created in 1967 and opened to the public in 1971.
The trains came in the 1890s. The South Atlantic and Ohio Railroad built track through the tunnel in 1893, and the first train ran through in 1894. Norfolk Southern operates the line today, with CSX using trackage rights, and the trains that use it now carry coal.
Heather and me at Natural Tunnel.
The Legend of Lover's Leap
We wanted to walk the Lover's Leap Trail, but we were running out of time. It's still worth mentioning, because the legend is the one most closely tied to Natural Tunnel. As it's told, a Cherokee maiden and a Shawnee warrior who had been forbidden by their tribes to marry jumped to their deaths together from the highest pinnacle above the tunnel, and the cliff has carried the name ever since. The trail to the overlook is about 0.4 miles.
The story isn't unique to Virginia. Lover's Leap is one of the most common place names in the country, and the tale of lovers kept apart who choose to jump together is told at cliffs all over the continent. Mark Twain joked that there were fifty Lover's Leaps along the Mississippi alone, and another Virginia version is told in Patrick County. Whether or not it happened here, a cliff high above a tunnel carved by water is a fitting place for the legend.
- Where
- Lover's Leap Overlook, Natural Tunnel State Park
- The trail
- 0.4 mi
- The legend
- A Cherokee maiden and a Shawnee warrior
- The view
- A bird's-eye look down at the tunnel
The Wilderness Road Blockhouse
Afterwards, we did some more exploring around the blockhouse at Natural Tunnel State Park before returning to the campsite to prepare for dinner.
The Wilderness Road Blockhouse is a replica of the blockhouse John Anderson built in 1775 near Moccasin Gap, at the edge of the Holston settlements. For years it was a place where travelers gathered before setting out on the Wilderness Road to Kentucky, and it stood until a fire destroyed it in 1876. It's the same road that ran through Cumberland Gap, which we'd looked down on that morning, and the park hosts Revolutionary-era reenactors here each year.
The upper story overhangs the lower one, with small square firing ports in the logs.
The park's sign explains why blockhouses were built the way they were. The second story extended past the walls below, with firing ports cut into the floor so defenders could shoot down at anyone close to the walls. Fireplaces and chimneys were built inside so attackers couldn't remove the chimney and climb in through the fireplace. The logs were squared and fitted tightly, because bullets could pass through the chinked gaps in an ordinary log cabin, and small rectangular firing ports replaced windows so defenders could shoot in any direction without being exposed. According to the sign, no two blockhouses looked identical.
The park's sign on the Wilderness Road Blockhouse.
The sign also quotes the journal of William Brown, who wrote that his party waited near two weeks at the blockhouse for company before setting out into the wilderness with 12 men and 10 guns.
The view across the hills from beside the blockhouse.
- Where
- Wilderness Road Visitor Center, beside the picnic area in Natural Tunnel State Park
- Original built
- 1775
- Original burned
- 1876
- Living history
- Revolutionary-era reenactors visit each year
Barbecue and Bluegrass
Tonight's dinner was catered barbecue, which was actually very good and, after a full day, a very welcome meal. After dinner, we were treated to some live bluegrass music from the Lonesome Pine Bluegrass Band, a local band well known for its good music. After the show, it was time to settle in for the night and prepare for the next day's activities.
The Lonesome Pine Bluegrass Band playing at camp after dinner.
Background from Virginia State Parks (its Natural Tunnel guide), Wikipedia's articles on Natural Tunnel State Park, Lovers' Leap and the Wilderness Road, the Crooked Road's blockhouse listing, the National Park Service and the blockhouse sign at the park. Water pressure guidance from RV Lifestyle and Winnebago.