|
At
the famous Cumberland
Gap National Historical Park joining the westernmost
corner of Virginia to Tennessee and Kentucky the Pine
Mountain Trail becomes your host. The completed trail
will extend 120 miles to Breaks
Interstate Park. The Towers found here along the Virginia-Kentucky
border is one of the more interesting geological formations
found along the route of the Great Eastern Trail. Currently
28 or more miles of PMT are open. Ledges, caves, and overlooks
invite exploration. When you are on the west side of the
ridge, you are often in Kentucky.
Pine
Mountain Trail’s end means turning east where it is presently
conjectured a route will be found across the friendly high
Allegheny Mountains to near Burkes Garden, Virginia. The
trail will cross the New River, which despite its name,
is the second oldest in the world, and one of the few that
flows north.
The
GET will then join the Allegheny
Trail in West Virginia.
Soon
that trail’s yellow blazes are left behind for a developing
route through George Washington and Jefferson National
Forest. See Potomac
Appalachian Trail Club for more information. This route
is entirely within the National Forest, and is covered
in National Geographic Maps 791 and 792. It is anticipated
this portion of route will use many existing hikeable National
Forest trails with relatively few and short connections
to be made.
Heading up to Big Schloss, Virginia
Farther
north, the GET joins the completed and well maintained Tuscarora
Trail and jogs along Great North and Sleepy Creek mountains,
here closely following the VA/WV state line. Along the
way, the trail passes a number of dramatic overlooks,
including Shockey’s Knob, named after Rev. John Shockey,
a Methodist circuit rider who established the country church
in nearby Shockeysville, Virginia. The GET finally leaves
the Old Dominion near its northernmost point to return
to West Virginia. (See PATC Maps F and L for the route
of the GET through northern Virginia and West Virginia.)
< South
to Kentucky | North to West
Virginia >
|