Boone's Trail and the Wilderness Road

Stops

1. 1

   1. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

   PublicWalker 1750; Boone 1775. National Park Service site; free.

   The natural gap in the Appalachians where Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia meet. Dr. Thomas Walker recorded it in April 1750, following an Indian road; Daniel Boone's frontiersmen opened the path, and settlers on the Wilderness Road later passed through it. Sources: Grokipedia: Cumberland Gap National Historical Park; NPS: Cumberland Gap; Wikipedia: Cumberland Gap; Grokipedia: Thomas Walker (explorer)

   Thomas Walker and Cumberland Gap →
2. 2

   2. Dr. Thomas Walker State Historic Site

   PublicCabin 1750. State historic site; grounds open.

   Marks where Thomas Walker built a cabin in 1750; a replica of "the first house in Kentucky" stands on the site, dedicated in 1931. Sources: Wikipedia: Dr. Thomas Walker State Historic Site

   33.7 mi, about 47 min from stop 1
   No story yet for this stop.
3. 3

   3. William Whitley House State Historic Site

   PublicLimited hoursBuilt 1787–1794. Historic site; seasonal hours.

   William and Esther Whitley's home near Crab Orchard, built as a fortress against attack between 1787 and 1794; often called Kentucky's first brick house. The grounds include Sportsman's Hill, an early racetrack. Sources: Wikipedia: William Whitley House State Historic Site

   70.4 mi, about 91 min from stop 2
   William Whitley / Sportsman's Hill →Esther Whitley: over the Cumberlands in 1775 →
4. 4

   4. Logan's Station / St. Asaph (Stanford)

   PublicMarker onlyBuilt 1775. Town park and marker area in Stanford; no reconstructed fort.

   In 1775 Benjamin Logan left Boone's party and built Logan's Station (St. Asaph) by Buffalo Spring near present Stanford. Logan later helped secure Kentucky statehood. Sources: Wikipedia: Benjamin Logan; Grokipedia: Stanford, Kentucky

   10.4 mi, about 15 min from stop 3
   Benjamin Logan →
5. 5

   5. Fort Boonesborough State Park

   PublicPaid admissionLimited hoursFounded April 1775. State park; fort exhibits have seasonal hours and admission.

   Daniel Boone's party founded Boonesborough after crossing the Kentucky River in April 1775; the settlement was a major frontier outpost during the Revolution. The fort site is a National Historic Landmark. Sources: Grokipedia: Fort Boonesborough State Park

   43.5 mi, about 59 min from stop 4
   Col. Richard Callaway of Boonesborough →
6. 6

   6. Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve (Boone's Overlook)

   PublicLimited hoursJune 7, 1769. State nature preserve; free, open daylight hours. Small gravel lot at the Brush Creek Road trailhead, north of Clay City. The overlook is a strenuous 1.25-mile climb each way, with unrailed cliffs at the top. Stay on the trail.

   John Filson's 1784 Boone narrative says that on June 7, 1769, the party "found ourselves on Red river, where John Finley had formerly been trading with the Indians, and, from the top of an eminence, saw with pleasure the beautiful level of Kentucky." By tradition, recorded on state historical marker 132, that eminence is Pilot Knob. Finley, a trader, had guided Daniel Boone's party from North Carolina. Sources: Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves: Pilot Knob SNP; Kentucky Historical Society: Marker 132, Pilot Knob; Collins, History of Kentucky (Madison Co.), quoting Filson

   26.7 mi, about 38 min from stop 5
   Pilot Knob, Boone’s Overlook →John Finley, the Trader Who Put Kentucky on Boone’s Map →

Directions cover the public stops only. Access, fees and hours are general; verify before visiting. Context: Eskippakithiki, the Shawnee town near Winchester that long hunters knew, is a protected site and is context only.