Wilderness Road

United States   Migration    Trails and Roads    Wilderness Road

The Wilderness Road started at Bristol, Virginia (splitting off the Great Valley Road) and headed west along the Virginia-Tennessee border to the Cumberland Gap, and then went northwest to Boonesboro, Kentucky. Eventually, an extension of the road would reach Louisville, Kentucky on the Falls of the Ohio River.

Historical Background
??? hired Daniel Boone to blaze the trail. An estimated 70,000 pioneers followed the Wilderness Road across the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky and beyond.

Route

 * Bristol, Washington, Virginia
 * Cumberland Gap where Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky meet
 * Boonesboro

Later extension:


 * Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky

Settlers and Records
For partial list of settlers who used the Wilderness Road, see.

Resources

 * Johnson, Robert Foster. Wilderness Road Cemeteries in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. Owensboro, Kentucky: McDowell Publications, 1981. FHL US/CAN Book 973 V3j.