Cumberland Gap National Historical Park’s penchant for providing quality visitor services will once again be exemplified in 2006 as park staff and volunteers immerse themselves in an impressive array of highly visible projects. According to Superintendent Mark Woods, project highlights will include building waterless restrooms at Hensley Settlement and Civic Park; constructing accessible restrooms at the Bartlett Park picnic area and in the group camping section at the Wilderness Road Campground; installing exhibits at the Pinnacle Overlook, at access points leading into Hensley Settlement, and at park trailheads; repaving the road to the Pinnacle Overlook and refurbishing roadside stonework; continuing maintenance of the park’s 70 miles of hiking trails; a complete redesign of the park’s Official Map and Guide, the front cover of which will be enriched with David Wright’s new painting of Daniel Boone leading settlers through the Cumberland Gap; and revamping the park’s web page to offer easy navigability and concise information. Superintendent Woods explains that all projects are of a two-fold nature, designed to protect park resources while at the same time providing visitor enjoyment.
Woods comments that projects chosen complement those completed in 2005. This past spring, the Thomas Walker Civic Club and the National Park Service announced a formal agreement which provided for improvements to facilities and increased visitor access at the Thomas Walker Civic Park near Ewing, Virginia as part of a long term donation lease. Replacement picnic tables have been placed at Civic Park and its entrance road has been paved. Roofs on several of the historic buildings at Hensley Settlement were re-roofed or repaired. An accessible and family friendly restroom/shower facility was constructed in the park’s Wilderness Road Campground. In conjunction with the town of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, park maintenance staff built an accessible boardwalk connecting the town’s Greenway Trail System and the park’s Daniel Boone Visitor Information Center. Two plasma screens were installed at the park visitor center and relay public information and recreational opportunities available to the park visitors. A new building was constructed at the park’s campground amphitheater and allows park staff to utilize new technology when presenting educational programs to the public.
Superintendent Woods expresses deep appreciation and thanks to park visitors, neighbors and friends whose suggestions were the building blocks for several of the projects. In his thanks, Woods reiterates Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s sentiment: “There is nothing so American as our parks. The fundamental idea behind the parks…is that the country belongs to the people…Parks stand as the outward symbol of this great human principle.”
