2018 - Hike 8 - February 22nd - Cumberland Gap National Historic Park (TN/VA/KY)
Boone trail, Colson trail and Pinnacle Overlook trails
Posted by Chris 2/22/18
Basics:
Length - 5.6 miles
Elevation gain - Estimated total of 800
Nearest city - Middlesboro, KY
Difficulty - The Boone and Colson trails were pretty easy other than being muddy. The trail from the Pinnacle overlook towards Fort McCook was all downhill one way and all uphill on the other.
The Day:
We weren't sure what we would do today but I was hopeful to make it back to Cumberland Gap which is an interesting area I had driven through when I lived in TN but not since. So we had a McBreakfast and headed off down US-58 towards the gap. The first place we stopped was a visitor center off 58 that seemed Daniel Boone focused. At that point we were really just looking for more information but the weather was amazing, warm and breezy with a nice gentle feeling and there was a trail access there so we decided to dive right in just in case rain or thunder (both possibilities) came. The Boone trail led off from the parking lot and apparently follows some long re-aligned road, probably US-58 or whatever preceded it. There were small stretches of intact asphalt over and over, at least 1 milepost looking cement thing and a few bigger than they would ever be for a foot path culverts but strangely no obvious bridge abutments. The trail wasn't well drained and there were a lot of squishy areas along it. Once it crossed over a paved road after 1.5 miles, the Boone trail was replaced or renamed the Colson trail. Slightly more hilly and interesting but also muddy and we only followed it for a little while until we got to the next trail access parking lot. Then we headed back. It wasn't anything special but it ensured we'd have a 'countable' hike today and the weather was great and its hard to go wrong with solitude and some exercise early in the morning. The hike crossed from TN back into VA which was novel.
These are the pics from the first hike (about 3.2 miles):
After this early hike we headed into the town of Cumberland Gap TN and looked around before heading to a different Cumberland Gap visitors center. This second center was staffed and had an introductory movie which was done very well. The ranger there said we 'had to' go up to the Pinnacles overlook which was nearby. The overlook did not disappoint and between the paved pathways at the overlook itself and the very steep dirt trail that led to McCook Fort, we added about 2 miles to our hiking today for the day. Brian took a lot of photos there but these were my favorites:
After all that we had lunch on the way back to Wise VA and were back by 4 pm. A very good day.
The Day:
We weren't sure what we would do today but I was hopeful to make it back to Cumberland Gap which is an interesting area I had driven through when I lived in TN but not since. So we had a McBreakfast and headed off down US-58 towards the gap. The first place we stopped was a visitor center off 58 that seemed Daniel Boone focused. At that point we were really just looking for more information but the weather was amazing, warm and breezy with a nice gentle feeling and there was a trail access there so we decided to dive right in just in case rain or thunder (both possibilities) came. The Boone trail led off from the parking lot and apparently follows some long re-aligned road, probably US-58 or whatever preceded it. There were small stretches of intact asphalt over and over, at least 1 milepost looking cement thing and a few bigger than they would ever be for a foot path culverts but strangely no obvious bridge abutments. The trail wasn't well drained and there were a lot of squishy areas along it. Once it crossed over a paved road after 1.5 miles, the Boone trail was replaced or renamed the Colson trail. Slightly more hilly and interesting but also muddy and we only followed it for a little while until we got to the next trail access parking lot. Then we headed back. It wasn't anything special but it ensured we'd have a 'countable' hike today and the weather was great and its hard to go wrong with solitude and some exercise early in the morning. The hike crossed from TN back into VA which was novel.
These are the pics from the first hike (about 3.2 miles):
After this early hike we headed into the town of Cumberland Gap TN and looked around before heading to a different Cumberland Gap visitors center. This second center was staffed and had an introductory movie which was done very well. The ranger there said we 'had to' go up to the Pinnacles overlook which was nearby. The overlook did not disappoint and between the paved pathways at the overlook itself and the very steep dirt trail that led to McCook Fort, we added about 2 miles to our hiking today for the day. Brian took a lot of photos there but these were my favorites:
After all that we had lunch on the way back to Wise VA and were back by 4 pm. A very good day.
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