The visitor center features a museum with interactive exhibits about the Gap's role as a transportation corridor, an auditorium that shows films about the area's cultural and natural history, a book store and the Cumberland Crafts gift shop with crafts from Appalachia.

[7]: xvii Ecosystems in the park are threatened by a number of insect infestations from non-native pest species, including Dendroctonus frontalis (southern pine beetle), and Adelges tsugae (hemlock woolly adelgid).

[7]: 73 Business leaders from Middlesboro, Kentucky, meeting in Cincinnati for the Appalachian Logging Conference, proposed a Lincoln National Park, centered around Fern Lake as early as 1922.

[7]: 18 [12] The park was established on June 11, 1940, by Franklin Roosevelt in order to "commemorate the story of the first doorway of the west".

[6]: v  The surrounding states purchased and deeded the land of the park to the federal government in 1955, and the official opening took place in 1959.

[6]: 10 Toward the southern end of the park lies Fern Lake, created by an earthen dam in 1890, which provides water to the nearby town of Middlesboro, Kentucky.

[16] The park includes a visitor center, renovated in 2004, which features a museum and auditorium, providing exhibits on the areas cultural and natural history, as well as book and gift shops.

A marker designating the tripoint of the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, is located at the peak of the mountain.

[2] According to one federal study, in 2013 visitor spending amounted to $46 million in nearby communities, supporting 639 local jobs.

[21] In 2016, the United States Mint released a commemorative quarter as part of the America the Beautiful series honoring the park.