Cumberland Trail

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A "typical" trail sign on the Smoky Mountain Segment

The Cumberland Trail, or CT, is a hiking trail following a line of ridges and gorges along or near the eastern escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. The CT begins at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and terminates at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and Prentice Cooper Wildlife Management Area just outside Chattanooga. The trail cuts through eleven Tennessee counties.

Over 300 mi (483 km) of trails are planned but only 165 mi (266 km) have been completed to date. The CT became Tennessee's 53rd state park in 1998, also Tennessee's only linear park. The Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park will contain a core corridor of trail stretching from Cumberland Gap National Park to the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and Prentice Cooper Wildlife Management Area just outside Chattanooga, TN. The state park is named for Justin P. Wilson, who was commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in 1996 and Deputy Governor for Policy for former Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist as well as Sunquist's Chief Policy Advisor from 1997 to 2003. The honor of the park naming was due to Wilson's "conservation and environmental contributions to the State of Tennessee" and his work in making the vision of the Cumberland Trail become a reality.The park headquarters are located in Crossville, TN.

The 165 mi (266 km) of the CT that are constructed are in the Cumberland Mountain Segment above La Follette, TN and Jacksboro, TN and in the Cumberland Gap National Military Park; the Smoky Mountain Segment in Campbell County, TN; the Frozen Head Segment in Morgan County, TN; the Obed Wild and Scenic River Segment in the Obed Wild and Scenic River and Catoosa Wildlife Management Area; the Grassy Cove Segment on Black and Brady Mountain in Cumberland County, TN; the Rock Creek Segment in Hamilton County, TN; the Possum Creek Segment in Hamilton County, TN; the Soddy Creek Segment in Hamilton County, TN; the North Chickamauga Segment in Hamilton County, TN; and the Tennessee River Gorge Segment in Prentice Cooper State Forest.

Over the next eight to ten years, the state of Tennessee will work in partnership with the Cumberland Trail Conference and other volunteers to solicit public and private support for acquisition of additional land along the trail. As a public-private partnership, the CT is being built and maintained by a cooperative effort of the Cumberland Trail Conference (CTC) and the state of Tennessee. The partnership leverages the power of individual volunteers, communities along the trail, private individuals, corporations, foundations, and state and federal governments, to acquire and build the 300-plus mile long Cumberland Trail. This "showcase" public-private partnership demonstrates the power of volunteerism and what can be accomplished when private sector visionaries and Tennessee public leaders combine efforts and resources.

The Cumberland Trail Conference (CTC), an associate organization of the Tennessee Trails Association, is building the actual CT. All trail construction is completed by volunteers. Volunteers and private supporters are the life-blood of Cumberland Trail. As land acquisitions have been completed and donations received, volunteer trail-building efforts have increased dramatically. Every year, the Cumberland Trail Conference (CTC) volunteer base and volunteer hours have increased; volunteer trail-building manhours through June 30, 2005 exceeded the total volunteer manhours in all of 2004.

The Cumberland Trail is designed and built to accepted hiking trail standards and to minimize the potential environmental impact on sensitive wildlife habitat, unique aquatic or terrestrial habitats, or endangered/threatened species. The Cumberland Trail's environmentally conscious footprint on the land provides the hiker with picturesque waterfalls, scenic overlooks, and a wilderness experience rare in the eastern US.