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Natural Heritage Trail

Natural Treasures
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Overmountain Victory Historic Trail
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Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail


Courtesy of the National Park Service.Thomas Jefferson called the victory of American patriots over British Major Patrick Ferguson's army at King's Mountain in October, 1780, the battle that "turned the tide of success" in the Revolutionary War.
 
Many of the militia men who achieved this stunning victory were known as the "Overmountain Men," citizen soldiers who marched from Abingdon, Virginia, through Eastern Tennessee, over the high mountains of North Carolina, to engage and defeat the British at King's Mountain in South Carolina.
 
The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, established in 1980, commemorates their victory, and every year reenactors follow the trail in honor of these soldiers.  Visitors can retrace the footsteps of these heroes over a public motor route that leads through scenic rural countryside.
 
Interpretive signs are installed at the sites listed below, and a trail map outlining both pedestrian and motor routes can be obtained from either the Museum of North Carolina Minerals or the W. Scott Kerr Reservoir.
 
National Park Service
2635 Park Road
Blacksburg, SC 29702
(864) 936-3477
www.nps.gov/ovvi
 
Overmountain Victory Trail Association
C/O Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area
Elizabethton, TN 37643 (423) 543-5808
www.nps.gov/ovvi

There are many sites along the Trail where visitors can learn more about this historic event, including these in North Carolina:
 
Museum of North Carolina Minerals
Milepost 331 on the Blue Ridge Parkway
Spruce Pine, NC 28777 (828) 765-9483
 
Fort Defiance
PO Box 686 Lenoir, NC 28645
(828) 754-7095
http://www.fortdefiancenc.org/

Historic Burke Old Burke County Courthouse
PO Box 195Morganton, NC 28655                                                            (828) 437-4104

Kings Mountain National Military Park
PO Box 40 Kings Mountain, NC 28086
(864) 936-7921
www.nps.gov/kimo
 
Lake James State Park
PO Box 340 Nebo, NC 28761
(828) 652-5047
http://ils.unc.edu/parkproject/visit/laja/home.html

W. Kerr Scott Reservoir 499 Reservoir Road
Wilkesboro, NC 28967-4762                                                                       336-921-3390
http://www.saw.usace.army.mil/wkscott/index.htm

Wilkes Heritage Museum
203 North Bridge Street Courthouse
SquareWilkesboro, NC 28697                                                            (336) 921-3390
http://www.nps.gov/ovvi/nc2/sites.htm