Cumberland Gap Nat Historic Site

Anyone here ever camped at Cumberland Gap National Historic Site? We stopped by the Visitors Center and talked to the Rangers there. They said you can reserve sites online now (used to be first come, first served) & there are some with electric hookups. Think we may try it this summer. Lot of hiking and beautiful scenery. We’ll be headed back to KY anyway to see our daughter and hopefully heading further in to the Midwest.

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Stunning….

 

We camped the last July(?). It was a beautiful campground. They were just beginning to re-pave a large section of the campground. If we would arrived a couple of days later, we might not have gotten a site. We were there on a fcfs basis. I would stay there again.

 

The road up to the overlook was newly paved. They said they had only been reservable for 6 weeks. A lot of the Great Smokies used to be fcfs, but now you can reserve most of them there.

 

It is and it is not a bad ride between I-75 in Kentucky and I-81 in Tennessee. As you through the park there is a tunnel where you cross the state line. The Visitors Center & the drive to the overlook are a short drive off the highway. Can’t take the trailer up top though.

 

We camped there a few years ago! Great park, lots of history. Even though I'm a California native, I have a couple hundred years of ancestry back in that area, so it was really fun for me to get back to some really deep roots (also explains my tendency to break out the Appalachian mountain dulcimer when we're out camping).

Fun fact...the nearby town of Middlesboro, KY is almost entirely INSIDE a meteor crater. The object that created it was about 300 feet across, and it struck within the last 300 million years or so.

 

Thats a fun fact indeed. I was there years ago...I was in the process of getting my private pilots license, and my mentor flew me down there. The approach to the airport was interesting --- it was my first time doing "Mountain Pass" flying --- looking left/right/up and seeing "Cumulous Granite" potential was a remarkable epxerience....frotunate our risk was pretty low since it was a rare CAVU day (Clear Above, Visability unlimited)

We made the trip to specifically to see Glacier Girl, who at the time was being restored. Glacier Girl is a p38-lightning which was recovered from a glacier where she was abandoned during the WWII. She has flown since, and as far as I know still (theoretically) is flyable --- but being so rare of an airplane assume that is quite rare...

The most memorable part of the trip was talking to this old guy -- My take on him was that he was a typcial hangar rat -- one of the greatest generation who had some stories to tell. It was only after we made the flight home did we find out he was the eccentric who was behind the restoration project. Which explains how such a down to earth man we talked too drove away in a very nice looking Caddy You'd never know he had any money by talking to him...

Something else to see at the gap...the Museums is right on the airport property...not hard to find. Unfortunately, it appears the airplane itself is no longer there.

 

Love those P-38's. And look out for the old guys, they always seem to know things...

 

I’m headed to Lakeland April 5th. Doubt I’ll see a P38, but that would be a great surprise!

 

I had the pleasure of taxing behind Glacier Girl for about a half hour on one of it's earliest visits after its restoration, as the many arrivals slowly reached their destinations on the grounds at AirVentire in Oshkosh. Fun to see up close

 

I wish I could see it fly, or just hear those giant engines fire...I've been there when a couple of old WWII veterans turned over -- there's just noting like those big old engines....

I see they found another one a few years ago. Hopefully they can restore it as well...

I couldn't find where she (GG) is today. I assume in Texas with its owners....its a shape it isn't at least at Udvar Hazy or better Wright-Patt...

I was interestign in going to Lakeland -- but I didn't plan enough in advance, the sad reality is there is a big "No Vacancy" sign on 75 as you cross into Florida...MAYBE next year...

 

Camping in Cumberland Gap on our way home from SC to WI tonight. The park is pretty empty on a Sunday night. Beautiful and bath houses are nice.

 

Wish I were there! Sunday nights are almost always my favorite. Usually about 3pm, you’ve got the parks to yourself -- assuming the pattern is similar to other parks I visit...

 

Where were you in SC?

 

We spent last week at Croft State Park and the week before at Table Rock State Park. Both were nice places. Table Rock was really nice until Friday afternoon when the weekend campers came. Then it was like a circus until Sunday noon time .

 

Table Rock can be that way depending on who shows up on the weekends & what brand of SC red neck you get. The White Oak campground further back is usually better than the other one. We kayak up there a good bit on the lake by the Visitors Center, it’s only an hour from us. I went to college in Spartanburg and had a couple of classes where we had to go out there for labs.

 

We stayed in the White OK campground

We stayed in the White Oaks campground. No real issues. Lots of unsupervised little kids on bikes made coming and going difficult. It is hard to complain too much about families teaching their kids to love the outdoors!

 

If you can get a reservation at Keowee-Toxaway State Park, it is small and really caters to people who are looking for a quiet camping spot. There are only 11 spots so you have to book well in advance if you want weekend nights especially. It is not far (13 miles west on SC 11) from Table Rock so you still do a lot of the same stuff. It is our favorite one. Look at Chester which is not too far from Croft State Park.

 

This look like a magnificent park...I keep adding places I need to go see, I'm running out of room in a scrapbook. Small quiet parks are hard to find -- I usually review sites on some public forums, and portals. But I NEVER review these hidden gems I'm sorry -- I'll keep these to myself.

There's no good solution to this --- but I would LOVE it if the parks had quiet sections and party sections. Especially in places where you have 400+ sites, and there's room to set aside quiet spots....if they find htese book quickly --- make more of the park that way. There's just a change in administration and maybe some signs.

Frankly, just disllowing outdoor speakers, which are audible from the 'street' would help. I hate the fact everything rolling out today has outdoor sound systems.

I can't stand listening to garth brooks on one side of me, and hip-hop-hybrid to the left. Lets ALL be quiet please, or I'll turn up my paganini.

I suspect we come "out here" to avoid the hastle of the 'real' world. Leave the real world at home. If you want to keep in that toxic stew, then stay home and turn up your hifi as loud as you want. (OK, Hifi reference is just me trying to sound like "Hey you kids, get off my lawn!

 

I like music but I can’t stand hearing someone playing in the campground for all to hear. Balsam Mountain campground in the Great Smokies had a Ranger for years who should be the model for how to run a campground. His name was Jack Campbell & he retired a few years ago. Some didn’t like him, but they were usually the people you didn’t want camping near you. It’s a remote place, 40 miles from anything & the main thing he checked was that your site was clean & not one that was going to attract bears. He walked the campground 3-4 times a day, mostly at meal times. In our tent days, we camped there a lot since it was 5000 ft elevation & nice in the summer. If you camped at another GSMNP campground, the Ranger would start with the Bear protocols. We would say, “We camp at Balsam with Ranger Jack,” and they would respond, “Then you don’t need to hear this, you know what to do.” If you did what you were supposed to do he left you alone & he’d work with folks new to camping, but if you were a repeat offender he’d didn’t put with you. The regulars loved him like he was family & he was the favorite uncle. When we end up near inconsiderate campers somewhere I’ll say, “This place could use Ranger Jack.” You still see his name mentioned in places people review the campground & he’s been retired 10 years. You can read more here about him & that area.

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