 US 23 follows Wildcat Creek and becomes a freeway adjacent to Mountain Empire Community College south of Big Stone Gap.The U.S. Highway has a partial cloverleaf interchange with US 23 Business and US 58 Alternate; the latter highway joins US 23 in a concurrency.The two highways have a diamond interchange with SR 610 (Powell Valley Road) before following the southern flank of Little Stone Mountain to Little Stone Gap, where the freeway enters the city of Norton.