Supported by the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program, Kentucky Trail Towns, and local partners, the project unites history and recreation in a shared vision of belonging. It honors the Indigenous nations who first shaped this land, while helping rural communities revitalize through heritage tourism, environmental stewardship, and youth engagement. Through the Pathfinder Initiative, young Kentuckians explore the Path as a source of identity, purpose, and connection.
The Warrior’s Path—Athiamiowee, the Common Path—is one of the oldest and most important cultural routes in North America. Long before the formation of Kentucky’s borders, this trail linked the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes, carrying people, goods, and ideas across the continent. It followed natural corridors shaped by geology and time: the ridges of the Cumberland Plateau, the valleys of the Pottsville Escarpment, and the great opening at the Cumberland Gap. For millennia, the Path served as a road of exchange and connection—used by Paleo-Americans, Indigenous nations, and later explorers and settlers. Its stones, streams, and hollows preserve the memory of a shared human story that continues to shape Kentucky’s identity.
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The Warrior’s Path: Footsteps Through Time – S31 E7
Follow the Warrior’s Path in Kentucky, an ancient route from the Cumberland Gap to the Ohio River, and the struggles and survival that shaped the lives of Native peoples and pioneers who lived along the way. A 2025 KET production.