Scott County

The territory now occupied by Scott County was in the domain of the Cherokee. The first white settler arrived in 1769. The Wilderness Road blazed by Daniel Boone in 1775 following a buffalo trace/Indian warpath began at the Anderson Blockhouse just east of Moccasin Gap, the gateway to the west.

www.explorescottcountyva.com

Sites

Kane Gap (Daniel Boone Birding and Wildlife Trail)

Fraley Avenue, Duffield, Virginia

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This natural notch was a welcome sight to travelers on the Wilderness Trail. It was through this gap that countless thousands trudged as they made their way westward. The notch can be seen from the Powell Mountain Overlook west of Duffield on Rte 58, or visitors can climb to the gap along the Daniel Boone Trail, a section of the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail. The trail also gives access to Ruffed Grouse breeding grounds, sightings of wintering shorebirds and views of the yearly hawk migrations.

Natural Tunnel State Park/Wilderness Road Blockhouse

1420 Natural Tunnel Parkway, Duffield, Virginia

Natural-Tunnel
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Natural Tunnel State Park is named after the one-million-year-old cave which runs under Purchase Ridge, allowing Stock Creek to go in one side and out the other. A railroad has taken advantage of this natural passage to follow the path of the creek, and daily coal trains can be seen roaring through the tunnel. The Wilderness Road Blockhouse erected at Natural Tunnel State Park in 2003 is typical of the blockhouses that were manned by the Holston Militia during the frontier conflict between the Indians and settlers.

Moccasin Gap

Route 58 between Weber City and Gate City, Virginia

Moccasin-Gap-photo
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Before Europeans improved it as the road to Kentucky, the main trail connecting the Cherokee Indians in the Great Smoky Mountains with the Shawnee in Ohio ran through Moccasin Gap on its way to Cumberland Gap. Settlers started coming through Moccasin Gap toward Kentucky in spite of the 1770 Treaty of Lochaber, causing the Shawnee to start Lord Dunmore’s War in 1774. During the Cherokee Wars from 1777 to 1794, settlers were often ambushed at Moccasin Gap.

Homeplace Mountain Farm and Museum

Rt. 224, Gate City, Virginia

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Scott County was formed by an act of the General Assembly on November 24, 1814, from parts of Washington, Lee, and Russell Counties, and was named for General Winfield Scott. This living history museum depicts an 1840s farmstead in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. The collection of authentic structures and artifacts has been assembled here from their original locations throughout Scott County.