Indian Gap Road Historical

Indian Gap Road Historical (HM1VA8)

Location: Gatlinburg, TN 37738
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Country: United States of America
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N 35° 36.566', W 83° 26.796'

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Inscription
Traffic of all sorts once passed through here—Indians, explorers, Confederate soldiers, farmers with livestock herds, merchants, and families traveling for varied reasons. This is Indian Gap. The road trace that descends the hill in front of you is a remnant of the Indian Gap Road, at one time the major north-south route through the Great Smoky Mountains.

For centuries this had been an Indian trail, but in the 1830s it was widened as a toll road, with charges for pedestrians, riders, vehicles, and livestock. The new road was steep, rocky, rutted, and only about five feet wide. Ice and fallen trees often obstructed the way. But until the Newfound Gap Road opened in the 1930s, travelers had no better way to cross the mountains. To avoid the arduous crossing, many opted for lengthy routes around.

Left Photo Caption
Mountain travelers often used sleds year-round on rugged mountain roads like the Indian Gap Road.

Right Photo Caption
A trace of the Indian Gap Road is visible a short distance inside the woods in front of you. Today remnants of the road are accessible only to hikers.
The Road Prong Trail follows the road trace from here, descending about 3.3 miles to the Newfound Gap Road at the Chimney Tops Trailhead parking area.
Details
HM NumberHM1VA8
Tags
Placed ByThe National Park Service, Department of the Interior
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Sunday, October 23rd, 2016 at 5:01pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)17S E 278389 N 3943386
Decimal Degrees35.60943333, -83.44660000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 35° 36.566', W 83° 26.796'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds35° 36' 33.96" N, 83° 26' 47.76" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)865
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling West
Closest Postal AddressAt or near Rd Prong Trail, Gatlinburg TN 37738, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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