Annotated photo of Cumberland Gap, a wind gap near the geographic triple point between Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. View to the west from the Pinnacle Overlook. Photo by C.M. Bailey
Cumberland Gap, elevation 506 m (1,660′), in the far southwestern corner of Virginia is a wind gap near the geographic triple point* between Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The gap has long been an important crossing point through the Appalachian Mountains, and lies at the western edge of the Valley & Ridge province with the Appalachian Plateau province to the northwest. Rocks that underlie the gap are tilted strata of middle to late Paleozoic age.
*Virginia has 4 geographic triple points- can you name them?
