Welcome to the Cumberland National Scenic Byway! It stretches for roughly 156 miles across eight Tennessee counties, from east to west: Claiborne, Campbell, Scott, Morgan, Fentress, Pickett, Overton and Clay. The byway begins at the Cumberland Gap in Claiborne County and ends at the confluence of the Obey and Cumberland Rivers in Clay County. Its tagline is “from the Cumberland Gap to the Cumberland River.”
National Scenic Byways are “gateways to adventures,” intended to be travelled and experienced to tell America’s unique stories. The Cumberland National Scenic Byway provides a quintessential American story. Bison created the first pathway through the Cumberland Gap, followed by Native American tribes who used it as a trading route for thousands of years. In the eighteenth century, Daniel Boone and nearly 300,000 pioneer settlers trekked through the Cumberland Gap, the first great gateway to the west. Start your adventure there—walk the tri-state trail and stand in Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia simultaneously.
State and national parks along the Cumberland National Scenic Byway offer unmatched opportunities in adventure tourism and outdoor recreation. Enter Scott County and you’re visiting the “Gateway to the Big South Fork,” the Adventure Tourism Capital of Tennessee. It contains the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, the fifth-largest national park in the eastern United States. The Big South Fork encompasses 125,000 acres, with hiking trails winding through a landscape of beautiful forests, breathtaking gorges and natural bridges.
Dale Hollow Lake touches all four of the Upper Cumberland counties along the byway: Fentress, Pickett, Overton and Clay. A favorite for house-boaters, Dale Hollow was voted by USA Today as the number four lake in the nation to “float your boat.” The lake also currently holds the world record for smallmouth bass ever taken, at almost 12 pounds! One of the clearest and deepest lakes in America, Dale Hollow Lake provides over 27,000 acres of wide-open space for family fun and recreation.
Finish your tour at the Historic Clay County Courthouse, just a stone’s throw from the Cumberland River. The courthouse features the Rolley Hole Marble Museum. The museum’s primary attraction is the late Bud Garrett, a legendary blues musician and rolley hole marble maker from Clay County’s historic Free Hills community. Founded in 1816, Free Hills is one of the oldest African American communities in Appalachian history. The marble yard at nearby Standing Stone State Park is dedicated to Garrett, and the park hosts the National Rolley Hole Marble Championships every September.
These are just a few of the destinations along the Cumberland National Scenic Byway, just a glimpse of the hidden frontier along the way. But it is more than a path that connects places—the byway itself is a destination. Whether you’re cycling, a member of a motorcycle club or just road tripping to your next adventure— the byway empowers you to be part of a true American experience—answering the call of discovery and adventure, from the Cumberland Gap to the Cumberland River.