Photographs Copyright 2008 by Tom Dempsey. I last modified
this page on March 5, 2010.
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Index to Virginia:
- Page 1: Appalachians (geologic map): Shenandoah National Park , Luray Caverns
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Page 2 (this page): Appalachians: Cumberland Gap , Natural Tunnel State Park
- Page 3: Plantations: Virginia historic maps , Historic Jamestowne (Pocahontas), Colonial Williamsburg , Shirley Plantation , Monticello / Thomas Jefferson , University of Virginia Rotunda
- North Carolina: Page 1: Appalachians: Map ; Great Smoky Mountains ; Blue Ridge Parkway ; Hanging Rock, Piedmont | 2: Durham: Duke University Chapel & Gardens, Eno River. Outer Banks: Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, Bodie Island Lighthouse, Wright Brothers Memorial, Kitty Hawk
- Tennessee: Appalachians: Great Smoky Mountains National Park ( geology , Cades Cove , Little River Road , Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail , Clingmans Dome ) ; Cherokee Lake
- West Virginia: Babcock State Park , Harpers Ferry , Green Bank Telescope , New River Gorge Bridge , Hawks Nest State Park , geology map
Image on Right: On the far right is the pass of Cumberland Gap (also known as the Cumberland Water Gap; elevation 1600 feet /
488 meters) in the Cumberland Mountains region of the Appalachian
Mountains. Cumberland Gap is famous in American
history for its role as the chief passageway through the central
Appalachians and as an important part of the Wilderness Road. Long used
by Native Americans, the path was widened by a team of loggers led by
Daniel Boone, making it accessible to pioneers, who used it to journey
into the western frontiers of Kentucky and Tennessee. The gap was
formed by an ancient creek, flowing southward, which cut through the
land being pushed up to form the mountains. As the land rose further,
the creek reversed direction, flowing into the Cumberland River to the
north. 
At the unique Natural Tunnel State Park, near Duffield, Virginia, both a train and a river share the same natural limestone cave,
measuring 850 feet (255 meters) long. The railroad has used this tunnel
since 1890. Natural Tunnel began forming during the early Pleistocene
Epoch and was fully formed by about one million years ago. The Glenita
fault line running through the tunnel, combined with moving water and
naturally forming carbonic acid may have formed Natural Tunnel through
the surrounding limestone and dolomitic bedrock. After the tunnel
formed and the regional water table lowered, Stock Creek diverted
underground, then later took the path of least resistance through the
Natural Tunnel, through Purchase Ridge, flowing south to join the
Clinch River. Daniel Boone is believed to have been the first white man
to see it. William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) dubbed it the "Eighth
Wonder of the World"; and the tunnel has been a tourist attraction for
more than a century. Natural Tunnel State Park was created in 1967, and
opened to the public in 1971. For a time, a passenger train line ran
through Natural Tunnel, and today, the railroad still carries coal
through it to the southeast USA.
Virginia, USA: 2. Appalachians: Natural Tunnel State Park & Cumberland Gap