The Tunnel through which coal is taken daily by train to power plants in the southeastern US.
We started Monday in sunshine after rain all day Sunday and through Sunday night. We explored more of Natural Tunnel State Park near Duffield, VA.
In the parking lot at the Visitor Center we came upon this "craft."
After a 40 mile drive we arrived at Wilderness Road SP where we embarked on an 18 mile bike ride along the Wilderness Road Rails to Trails Bike/Hike and Horse Trail
Sun was out. Temperature was 91 degrees and the humidity was 92%. Just like home. Yuk!
After a short 10 mile drive we arrived at our camp site for Monday night.
Another of the beautiful National Parks
From Alabama to Canada the Appalachian Mountains rise in a series of parallel ridges between the eastern seaboard and the continent's interior. If you were heading west in the days of travel by horse, boat or your own two feet, crossing points were few and far between. Mid-18th Century explorers following well-worn bison and American Indian trails found their way through the Cumberland Gap. In 1775 Danial Boone was commissioned to blaze a road through the Gap and his trace evolved into the Wilderness Road, establishing his place in history as a frontiersman and pathfinder. Between 1780 and 1810 between 200,000 and 300,000 people crossed the Gap heading west. When Cumberland Gap Historical Park was authorized by Congress in 1940, a major paved highway passed through the Gap, compromising the historic scene known to Indians and early settlers. To restore the historic landscape the highway was rerouted through the Cumberland Gap Tunnel, which opened in 1996. Over the next few years the gap area was restored to the way it looked around 1810.
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