Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
View from the Pinnacle Overlook toward the southwest, overlooking Fern Lake and the surrounding park, 2009
LocationKentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, United States
Nearest cityCumberland Gap, Tennessee
Coordinates36°36′15″N 83°41′14″W / 36.60417°N 83.68722°W / 36.60417; -83.68722
Area20,508 acres (8,299 ha)
Visitation704,598 (2019)[2]
Websitewww.nps.gov/cuga
NRHP reference No.66000353[1]
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966

The Cumberland Gap National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located at the border between Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, centered on the Cumberland Gap, a natural break in the Appalachian Mountains.

The park lies in parts of Bell and Harlan counties in Kentucky, Claiborne County in Tennessee, and Lee County in Virginia. The park contains the Kentucky-Virginia-Tennessee tripoint, accessible via trail.[3]

The town of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, is located inside of the park's territory.[3]

The Cumberland Gap Visitor Center is located on U.S. Highway 25E just southeast of the city of Middlesboro, Kentucky, and just northwest of the Cumberland Gap Tunnel and the town of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. The visitor center features a museum with interactive exhibits about the Gap's role as a transportation corridor, an auditorium that shows films about the area's cultural and natural history, a book store and the Cumberland Crafts gift shop with crafts from Appalachia.[4]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. ^ "National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics". National Park Service. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Map" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  4. ^ "Visitor Center". National Park Service. Retrieved September 13, 2010.