Cumberland Gap
| Cumberland Gap | |
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Cumberland Gap in winter
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| Elevation | 1,631 ft (497 m) |
| Traversed by |
 US 25E
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| Location |
 Kentucky Tennessee Virginia United States
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| Range | Cumberland Mountains |
| Coordinates | 36°36′14″N 83°40′23″W / 36.6039715°N 83.67297°WCoordinates: 36°36′14″N 83°40′23″W / 36.6039715°N 83.67297°W |
| Topo map | USGS Middlesboro South |
 The pass is located in the southeastern United States
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The Cumberland Gap is a narrow pass through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains, near the junction of the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee.
Famous in American colonial history for its role as a key passageway through the lower central Appalachians, it was an important part of the Wilderness Road and is now part of the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.
Long used by Native Americans, the Cumberland Gap was brought to the attention of settlers in 1750 by Dr. Thomas Walker, a Virginia physician and explorer. The path was explored by a team of frontiersmen led by Daniel Boone, making it accessible to pioneers who used it to journey into the western frontiers of Kentucky and Tennessee.
The Cumberland Gap is one of many passes in the Appalachian Mountains but the only one in the continuous Cumberland Mountain ridge line. It lies within Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and is located on the border of present-day Kentucky and Virginia, approximately 0.25 miles (0.40 km) northeast of the tri-state marker with Tennessee.
The area surrounding Cumberland Gap National Historical Park is composed of sedimentary rock, which is formed by the compaction of particles of gravel, sand, silt, mud, and carbonate minerals from the repetitive rise and fall of shallow seas. Scientists have dated this region to the Cambrian or Pennsylvanian period. The unique landscape seen today is a result of the uplift of sedimentary rock in conjunction with several million years of weathering and erosion. These features include narrow ridges, steep cliffs, overlooks, and natural gaps like the Cumberland Gap. The Cumberland Gap is now known as a wind gap since water no longer flows through it.
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Wikipedia