Indian Gap Road

Traffic of all sorts once passed through Indian Gap, including Indians, explorers, Confederate soldiers, farmers with livestock herds, merchants, and families traveling for varied reasons. The road trace descending the hill is a remnant of the Indian Gap Road, once the major north-south route through the Great Smoky Mountains. For centuries it 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, and ice and fallen trees often obstructed the way. Until the Newfound Gap Road opened in the 1930s, travelers had no better way to cross the mountains, and many chose lengthy routes around to avoid the arduous crossing. Mountain travelers often used sleds year-round on rugged mountain roads like the Indian Gap Road. Today remnants of the road are accessible only to hikers, and 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.

Tennessee · United States