Wilderness Road - Cumberland Gap

Wilderness Road was the principal road used by settlers for more than 50 years to reach Kentucky form the east.  In 1775 Daniel Boone blazed a trail for the Transylvania Company from Fort Chiswell in Virginia through the Cumberland Gap into central Kentucky.  It was a steep, rough and narrow trail that could only be done on foot or on horseback but it was still used by thousands of people.  The original trail was a large loop with a distance of 200 miles. In 1792 the new Kentucky legislature provided money to upgrade the road.  In 1796 it became an all weather road and was opened for wagon and carriage travel.  The road was abandoned around 1840.  Today many highways follow much of the route along with hiking trails in the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.