The Appalachian Mountain range is nearly 1,500 miles long
stretching from the southeast corner of Canada to Alabama. The
Cumberland Gap, a natural break in the range near the eastern
borders of Kentucky and Tennessee, is now a paved highway known
as US 25E. A section of US 25E that now passes through a tunnel
underneath the mountain is called the Cumberland Gap Tunnel.
Cars and trucks have replaced Conestoga wagons, but the route,
now a paved highway, still offered challenges to travelers. The
steep grade and sharp turns of US 25E were the cause of many
traffic accidents. So many, in fact, that the 2.3-mile stretch
of highway earned the unfortunate nickname, “Massacre Mountain.”
To make the route safer, a section of US 25E was relocated under
the mountain by constructing a tunnel. This also helped restore
the appearance of the mountain to the way it looked in the late
1700s, in the days of Daniel Boone. The Cumberland Gap Tunnel
passes through a large limestone formation within the Cumberland
Mountain. Limest