Cumberland Gap National Park

Cumberland Gap National Park...Wilderness Campground

...in Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia!!

April 16-19

We have spent the last few days exploring the Appalachian Mountains at Cumberland Gap National Park.    This area is so beautiful (I know that I say that a lot...but it really is!).  All the deciduous trees, flowering trees and leaves covering the ground is unlike anything we have seen before.   The Cumberland Gap was a very important east/west passageway in the Appalachian Mountain Range that was used by bison, Native Americans, explorers, settlers and soldiers.  It is one of the only passageways through this mountain range that runs from Canada to Alabama.  Danielle Boone was commissioned to blaze a road through the gap, that 300,000 people between 1780-1810 traveled through, in hopes of a brighter future in the West.  

We went on an awesome tour of Gap Cave.  The coolest part of the tour was that there was no lighting inside the cave except our flashlights.  We felt like real cave explorers!

Another great thing about this park was the hiking and biking trails.  The park was so quiet and peaceful!

We hiked through the Cumberland Gap and up to Pinnacle Point.  From that point you could see 3 states...Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia.  The trees are just starting to bloom...the pictures of this place in the Fall are breathtaking...so many colors of leaves changing.

We had our 2nd (YES...you read that right) campfire of the trip.  It is funny that we have been camping for over 100 days and just haven't had many campfires.  It was fun to roast marshmallows!

Tomorrow morning we have a long drive SE to Charleston, South Carolina.  We have done a NW loop inland from Georgia and are now heading back down to the coast.  We will be in Charleston and the Myrtle Beach area for the next 10 days.  We hope that you all have a blessed Easter.   It will be a weekend of remembering the precious gift that God gave to us through his son Jesus, his sacrifice on the cross and glorious rising from the dead on Easter.  We are so thankful for this priceless gift!  He is RISEN!