Boone Trace was the first road opened into what was to become Kentucky.

Carved out by the legendary explorer Daniel Boone and his party of trailblazers during March and April 1775, the route was created for the specific purpose of introducing settlers to the new western lands.

It is, therefore, of enormous historical significance.

In addition to being important to the founding of Kentucky, it is also the opening of the early American West. The route began on Long Island on the Holston River (present-day Kingsport, TN) and continued across the Cumberland Gap and into the heart of Kentucky to Boonesborough.

Five Kentucky counties would eventually encompass Boone Trace: Bell, Knox, Laurel, Rockcastle, and Madison.

The historical route has been identified and most of it can be followed using existing roads which are within reasonable proximity to the original trace. One must keep in mind that it was originally only a dirt trail, just large enough for pack horses and not wide enough for wagons.

There are twelve Kentucky Historical Society highway markers along Boone Trace.

These markers are used as points of reference to describe the people, places, and events of the historic route of travel.

Primary source documents, images, and artifacts are incorporated to enhance the description of Boone Trace.

The sequence of markers presented here are in order as they proceed northward from the Cumberland Gap to Boonesborough, which was the direction first traveled by Daniel Boone and his men in 1775.