Cumberland Historic Byway Receives National Designation

The Cumberland Historic Byway has been designated as a National Scenic Byway.

Ruth Dyal is Executive Director of the Upper Cumberland Tourism Association. She said this is a huge boost to tourism for the Upper Cumberland.

“You now have Fentress County with the equestrian,” Dyal said. “You’ve got Clay and Overton and Pickett County with Dale Hollow Lake. So, this is exactly the route that this particular trail takes.”

Dyal said these counties depend heavily on tourism publicity with large companies and manufacturing no longer around. Dyal said both the Upper Cumberland Tourism Association and these counties look for ways to promote the outdoors during the pandemic.

“We are promoting the outdoors and that’s why we have it for people to go hiking, mountain biking,” Dyal said. “Rock climbing, all those things like kayaking. This is the place for you to be and that’s what people want to do these days.”

She said this designation is important as many tourists come to Tennessee to leave the beaten path to visit state parks, rivers and overlooks.

“I had travel writers about two or three weeks ago and she was supposed to be three hours at Pickett State Park,” Dyal said. “At 4 o’clock in the morning they watched the night sky, then they got back at breakfast and they went out for a hike for seven miles.”

Heading West, the Cumberland Historic Byway goes from Claiborne County to Clay County. This designation was given by the U.S. Department of Transportation.