Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail Website Links For
Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail
 

Information About

Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail




Fifty-seven miles of trail are officially developed for public use. Development continues on the remaining sections. The official sections of the trail were established through agreements with current landowners and often have overlapping designations. All officially certified segments are identified through the use of signs displaying the trail logo (an Overmountain man in profile on a brown and white triangle) or a white triangular blaze.

A parallel Commemorative Motor Route travels along state highways and, in some stretches, actually travels over the old historic roadway.

The OVHT is a cooperative effort of the National Park Service , the U.S. Forest Service , the U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers , the Overmountain Victory Trail Association , local governments, local citizens' associations, local historical societies and the states of Virginia , Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina .


HISTORY

In 1975 , anticipating the upcoming American Revolutionary War Bicentennial, citizens in the five states along the original routes--which included Georgia --reenacted the march across the mountains. They resolved to seek national recognition of this act analogous to the spontaneous response of the Minutemen at Lexington And Concord .

In the following years, they carried scrolls petitioning Congress for national designation of the route. Since no such designation existed, they worked with representatives of other American trails to create what became known as the National Trails System.

In September, 1980 , the OVHT was officially designated a national historic trail by congressional authorization.


EXTERNAL LINKS