Featured Communties

Scott County
The territory now occupied by Scott County was in the domain of the Cherokee. ... read more

Lee County & Wilderness Road S.P.
Martin’s Station, built in 1775, by Joseph Martin and a party of woodsmen in ... read more

A four hour driving tour through 3 counties covers the route of Daniel Boone’s famous Wilderness Trail. Boone and his axmen blazed the trail through 200 miles of Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky Wilderness in 1775, to forge a route for settlement of the region beyond the Appalachian Mountains. After leaving Bristol, visitors may join the Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail on Bloomingdale Road which leads to Anderson Blockhouse, an assembly point for thousands who used the Wilderness Trail.

The first pass at Moccasin Gap in the Clinch Mountains is one of two ground level water gaps leading from the Great Valley of Virginia into the interior of the Alleghenies. The Wilderness Trail went west along the Little Moccasin Creek to a station that is now known as Gate City. This was attacked by Chief Benge of the Chickamauga Cherokee on August 26, 1791. The Wilderness Road Block House at the Natural Tunnel State Park is a representative of the Anderson Blockhouse which was built in 1775 in Virginia’s East Carter’s Valley.

The Blockhouse was an important frontier landmark and served as a gathering place for hundreds of pioneers traveling the trail. The Trail continues over Kane Gap to Martin’s Station at Wilderness Road State Park which was built in 1775 by Joseph Martin and a party of woodsmen in Powell Valley, approximately 12 miles from Cumberland Gap. The Cumberland Gap is a natural break in the mountains which provided a passage into Kentucky for thousands of early pioneers. Today, as part of the National Park System, visitors stand in awe at this great gateway and its role in America’s history.

Additional Resource:
The Daniel Boone Trail