This weekend the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park will be hosting “Blazing Trails & Tall Tales.” It’s part of the nearly 250-mile commemorative axe relay recognizing the 250th anniversary of Boone Trace.

On Saturday, May 10, the axe arrives at the Daniel Boone Parking Lot at 6 p.m. Visitors can greet the group carrying the axe along its journey as they arrive and pass the axe to park staff. From there, they can join the axe procession into the town of Cumberland Gap.

From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the axe procession will walk down the boardwalk and into town. The expedition follows the Tennessee Road Trail and the Wilderness Trail Road. Visitors can witness “Daniel Boone” carrying the axe through the same Cumberland Gap that Daniel Boone passed through 250 years ago. From there they can descend the Object Lesson Road Trail and Thomas Walker Trail to the Visitor Center.

Programs start at the Visitor Center at 8 p.m. where visitors can see and hear 18th Century weapons during a firing demonstration. They can also hear the real story of Boone’s epic crossing of the Cumberland Gap from author and historian Randell Jones.

On Sunday, May 11 the park will host Frontier Skills and Stories with living history programs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Artisans will demonstrate blacksmithing, fire-making, leatherwork and other skills used on the Kentucky frontier in the late 1700s.

At 2 p.m. Jones will again share “Blazing Trails & Tall Tales” where visitors can hear the real story of Boone’s epic crossing of the Cumberland Gap.

For more information call the visitor center at 606-248-2817.