Multi-State National Historic Trails (Non-Units)[O-P]-NPS|Travel

Old Spanish National Historic Trail (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah)

9/19/2009 Headed back to LV and went to Old Spanish Trail Park. The park is a square block with nice children’s stuff in the middle, but angling across is a path defining the original route of the OST [NHT in NV], with historical plaques.

The park sign

Some trail info ...

... and some more ...

... and some more

A view across the park

4/27/2017 We made a brief stop in the general area where the Old Spanish NHT [CO] passes through across the San Luis Valley floor...

Nice view of the Sangre de Cristo range

4/30/2017 Old Spanish NHT. We located a sign on a wall noting Santa Fe as the start of the trail to the California coast.

Me by ...

... the sign

Trail detail

4/9/2019 ... we made two quick stops off the highway. The first was in a little pullout area down a side road which was Historic Route 66, and had a monument about the many uses of the path through the Cajon Pass, including the Old Spanish Trail NHT [CA] and Route 66. We continued on 66 for a bit as we returned to the main highway where the original 66 died, then right back off again for the second stop, also right off the highway and on the original 66. This stop had another monument about the Santa Fe Trail, also called the Old Spanish Trail in California.

A little monument ...

... with OST info

Second monument ...

... and more info

Oregon National Historic Trail (Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, Wyoming)

9/24/2004 Headed north then east to Guernsey and the Register Cliffs State Historic Site. These are cliffs along the overland trails (Oregon, California, Mormon Pioneer, Pony Express [NHTs in WY]) with hundreds of names carved into the rock – very interesting. Saw a Pony Express monument here. Fort Laramie National Historic Site ... Chimney Rock National Historic Site Scotts Bluff National Monument

The park sign

Register Cliffs ...

... and one of the many carvings

Oregon Trail medallion

Wagon ruts (as noted)

Pony Express medallion

5/25/2012 Townsley-Murdock Immigrant Trail Site. This is an area of unplowed land that preserves the ruts (and items buried below the surface) of the immigrants, including Mormons (on the Mormon Pioneer NHT [NE]). ... Signs for the overland trails auto routes. All along this trip we will be at or near sites for the major historic trails – California NHT, Oregon NHT, Mormon Pioneer NHT, Pony Express NHT [NE]. We now entered into Kearney. ... First stop, Fort Kearny [sic] State Historical Park. This historic fort was an outpost of the US Army founded in 1848, the first located along the Oregon Trail [NE]. We did pick up some nice NHT books here, and then walked around outside. There wasn’t a whole lot here, but we could go in the stockade built for livestock and a sod-construction blacksmith shop. ... Gothenburg - The PE station was an actual station (the Macchette station), relocated into town in a park in order to preserve it. It is now a little museum where we got some information on the PE [NE]. ... Pony Express Station Monument - On the Gothenburg Steps, this was the original site of the Macchette station, visited earlier. ... in the Lincoln County Museum; although it was closed, we climbed through the railing for photographs. [We also spotted markers for the Pony Express, Oregon Trail and Mormon Trail.]

The site sign

Ken, signage and ruts

The NHT auto routes

The Fort sign

Trail blazes

Nice sod-roof building

Trail map and info

Me on the fort grounds ...

... and Ken in the stockade

The Macchette Station

Pony Express medallion

Another view

Original Macchette site

Monuments for PE ...

... Oregon Trail ...

... and Mormon Trail

5/26/2012 California Hill - This area marks the start of the steady climb from the Great Plains on the Oregon and California Trails [NE]. There were some very clear ruts here out on the hill, and an interpretive sign at the road intersection. A little west of here we headed off for Ash Hollow NHL. A spring in the vicinity of Ash Hollow Cave made it an attractive site for human habitation, spanning over 2,500 years from 1000 B.C. It was also a good place for water on the overland trails, although the rugged cliffs made travel challenging. ... From here we drove back a short ways to Windlass Hill, which marked the entrance from the high table lands to the south into the Ash Hollow area and the North Platte River valley. There are Oregon and California Trail ruts here as well, and we checked out a sod house. ... Scotts Bluff National Monument ... then headed a little south and back west again, first on pavement, then on gravel. When we crested the local high area, we knew we had reached Robidoux Pass NHL. Named for the family that had a trading post here, this is a gap passing through the Wildcat Hills used by thousands of emigrants on the Oregon Trail from 1843-1851. We could a long distance west, fading into the haze. On the road back we stopped at a roadside grave of “F. Dunn, age 26”, one of only a handful of marked graves along the Oregon Trail [NE].

California Hill signage

Trail blazes

A nice panorama showing the ruts (and Ken)

Windlass Hill signage

A sod house ...

... with us out front

Robidoux Pass

A trail grave

5/31/2013 Back in the car north, into the Great Divide Basin, to the furthest stop, Independence Rock NHL. This is a large domed granite monolith, used as a waypoint by Emigrant Trail travelers who hoped to reach it by Independence Day (and it was apparently named on July 4, 1824). We thought it looked like a big cow pie, but that’s just us. This spot is on all the NHTs – California, Oregon, Mormon Pioneer and Pony Express [WY]. We walked up to the Rock for photos and checked out the boulders sitting on the larger sloped monolith. ... The [Tom Sun] ranch is near Devil’s Gate, a slit in the rocks which was also an Emigrant Trail landmark.

Independence Rock sign

The famous trail waypoint

Interesting balancing rocks

The trail around the rock

Ken by a Trail marker ...

... and the marker with me

The other side of the marker

The Trail auto route

Devil's Gate

6/1/2013 Granger Stage Station [State Historic Site] – an Overland Trail station on the Oregon and Pony Express NHTs. ... Church Butte – another interesting geographical landmark on the Emigrant Trails and a Pony Express relay station. Here we walked around in the quiet of the area, finding the skeleton of some small mammal. Trail marker – for all four NHTs. ... Fort Bridger State Historic Site - originally a 19th-century fur trading outpost established in 1842 and later a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Emigrant Trails, as well as a Pony Express station [NHTs in WY]. ... Echo Canyon – we got off the interstate to take the scenic LH route. The brochure we had pointed out various sites of historic interest for the Mormon travel through this area. We also stopped at the Hanging Rock and Weber Pony Express Stations. The whole route is on the Emigrant Trail NHTs and Pony Express NHT [UT]. Exiting the Canyon, we juked north on the Ogden path of the LH, to see more Trail stuff. Henefer - Various Trail markers, monuments and signage for LH, Mormon Pioneer, California and Pony Express [NHT in UT]. ... Park City - Short detour for Snyders Pony Express Station. ... headed north to This Is The Place Heritage Park, at the west end of Emigration Canyon NHL. This is the original route used by pioneers, including the Mormons, entering Utah and where Brigham Young declared, "This is the right place. Drive on." First we stopped at the National Pony Express Monument, with a replica stage station and a nice twice-life-size statue of a young rider changing horses. Up the hill in the heritage park we saw the huge This Is The Place monument, with all kinds of carvings, statues, plaques and the like.

Granger sign

The Granger station

Pony Express medallion

Oregon Trail medallion

Ken and me by the memorial

Church Butte

A detail of the formation

An ex-critter

Trail marker on two sides ...

... and the other two

Holding up the marker

Fort Bridger sign

The trading store near the trail markers

Trail medallions

Echo Canyon sign for ...

... Hanging Rock

One Trail marker ...

... and another

Weber PE Station marker

Mormon Pioneer marker

Pony Express marker

Signage for the California ...

... Pony Express ...

... and Mormon Trails

Snyders PE Station marker

This Is The Place park sign

Pony Express Monument sign

Reconstructed station

The cool monument statue

This Is The Place monument

Detail on the monument

5/31/2019 Pony Express National Historic Trail. ... McCoy Park. This was an accidental find due to some NPS NHT trail and auto route signs on the road. In the park is a gazebo with a number of signs about the Oregon, Santa Fe and California trails (NHT)[MO].

We spotted some ...

... auto route signs

McCoy Park shelter

A number of panels ...

... about the NHTs

6/1/2019 ... so we headed back east (for a while on the Oregon and California NHT Auto Routes) ... Our last stop east was an easy one, at the end of the parking lot in an interstate median rest area - another Kansas sign about the Oregon and California Trails [NHT in KS].

Ken pointing out ...

OR/CA Trails info

5/26/2021 Wieduwilt Swales. The swales were created as emigrants on the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon Trails (NHT)[MO] traveled up a hill and went around a natural rock outcrop near the north central portion of the site.

A wide view of the site

The park sign

A 360 of the area with us

Some detailed info ...

... interpretive sign ...

... with NHT logos

One view of the swales ...

... and another

Ken and me

9/23/2023 Massacre Rocks State Park ... Along the road between here an Arco we spotted Oregon Trail signage for Goodale’s Cutoff.

A lonely stretch of ...

OR NHT Goodale's Cutoff

9/24/2023 Marker - Snake River (Fruitland). “The valley of the Snake, historic passage from the Midwest to the Northwest, has been a primary route for travel since the days of Indians and fur traders.” (referring to the Oregon trail) Marker – Salmon Festival (Fruitland). “Long before fur hunters explored here in 1811, an annual Indian salmon festival was held each July in this area.” These last two markers were at a rest area, where we also found a little kiosk with info on the Oregon NHT.

Me by ...

The Snake River marker

The rest area ...

... with NHT info ...

... and emblem

Oregon Trail info ...

... including an encampment ...

... and on river crossings

9/25/2023 Signage - Oregon Trail NHT. This is on Old Oregon Trail Road, that we had been paralleling on the main road, and is a spot where there was a split in the trail offering two paths over rough terrain and steep hills. We took a walk along one of the pretty obvious trails and found one of the white “flappy markers” for the NHT bobbing in the breeze. Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument

A view of the area ...

... with signage ...

... and map ...

... and what it looked like

They came from out there ...

... roughly along this path

... where we spot, ...

... and Ken photos ...

... a flappy marker.

The classic emblem

9/20/2024 Near the base we got off to find a site for a DAR plaque, this being yet another new category for us. While looking for it, we spotted another sign - the Oregon Trail NHT! Bonus! Right nearby we found our DAR marker, “Unknown Pioneer Woman”, dedicated to a pioneer woman who had died on the trail. The grave was discovered in 1924, marked with an old wooden wagon tongue buried beneath decades of overgrown brush.

Our bonus find ...

... of the Oregon Trail

A view of the trail ...

... and the emblem

The Pioneer Woman grave ...

... with plaque

9/21/2024 Our last stop of the trip turned out to be quite nice, and we could have spent more time there if we didn’t have a flight to catch. The End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center is a museum with “a wealth of displays about the history of the Oregon Trail and the town of Oregon City”. The building is under a huge set of prairie schooner upper canvas supports and the look is very effective. Inside we saw exhibits about the preparation for setting out from home to the west, then skipped the movie theater, then more museum rooms about the life in Oregon after arrival. On a large map of the Oregon and other historic trails we were amazed at just how many of the labeled locations we had been to.

Cool outside structure ...

... and wagon

An outside map of the trail ...

... which ends here

A nice mural about the trail

Life at home as one left it

Ken in example storage volume ...

... and stuff one might carry

Detailed map of the trails

Ken stylin'

More great displays ...

... with me

Old containers

Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia)

Pony Express National Historic Trail (California, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming)

5/23/2014 Information on the Schell Creek Pony Express Station (Pony Express NHT [NV]).

The usual medallion

A cool sculpture ...

... and informative signage ...

... with emblem

5/24/2014 Pony Express trail crossing. ... Sand Springs PE Station and Sand Mountain Recreation Area (BLM). At the Sand Springs PE Station [NHT in NV] which was very nice in itself we saw the huge 500 foot dunes of Sand Mountain with little dots racing up and down.

A look along the Lincoln Highway crossing the NHT

A wider view showing both sides

Ken and me at the sign

Sand Springs signage

Too bad people have caused things to degrade ...

... but the ruins are still cool

A pretty flower

The typical PE post marker

Ken, me and Sand Mountain behind the PE Station

5/25/2014 California National Historic Trail The [Fort Churchill State Historic Park] site preserves the remains of an Army fort, providing protection from the Indians, and a waystation on the Pony Express and Central Overland Routes [NHT in NV] dating back to the 1860s. We checked out the museum, and went over to walk around the ruins, which were unusual in that they are adobe brick. ... [Dayton] Nevada PE Station/Overland Stage Station. ... [Carson City] We walked over to a marker for the Carson City PE Station, ...

The park sign

A Pony express marker ...

... and medallion

A long view of the ruins ...

... and one close up

Ken and me within the walls

Union Hotel, where the station was

The usual marker from front ...

... and back

The Carson City marker front ...

... and back

5/22/2015 In Gardnerville we stopped at the Friday’s Pony Express [NHT in NV] station marker, then took a detour along the lake in South Lake Tahoe to try for a better view but the clouds didn't cooperate. ... Strawberry Pony Express Station (NHT in CA) ... Bridge stone obelisks from original Riverton Bridge and Moore’s (Riverton) PE Station ... Pacific House PE Station ... Sportsman’s Hall PE Station ... Duroc House PE Station ... Clarksville/Mormon Tavern PE Station ... Folsom PE Station.

Trail sign

Friday's Station marker

Where we are on the map

The auto tour sign

Historical info

Me in an old trunk

Slippery Ford near Strawberry Station

Near where the Slippery Ford was

Moore's (Riverton) Station info

Pacific House Station

Not much left

A monument ...

... with medallion

Sportsman's Hall Station

Me pointing out ...

... the medallion

More info

The trail survey post

Ken reading the back of ...

... and me the front of ...

... the Duroc House Station marker

Where is this thing?

Clarksville/Mormon Tavern Station monument and post

Historical info

The survey post

Historical info for the Folsom Station

The Assay Office

A close-up

The usual medallion

Historical info

5/23/2015 We checked out the monument to the Pony Express [NHT in CA], and the Pony Express Terminal NHL. ... Rockville PE Station

Pony Express Monument

Historical info

A close-up of horse and rider

The Pony Express Terminal

Info on the extension to San Francisco

Rockville marker front ...

... and back

5/31/2019 First we made our way to the river, where despite the river being high on the banks and inundating park areas including a gazebo, we found an interpretive area for the Lewis & Clark (NHT) expedition for “St. Michaels Prairie”, along with the Pony Express, California and Oregon Trails (NHTs)[MO]. A little distance away we hit the John Patee House NHL (a contributing property in the Freedom’s Frontier NHA) where we really found more than expected. Completed in 1858 as a 140-room luxury hotel, office space included the headquarters and eastern terminus of the Pony Express. Outside there were many plaques and signs about the Pony Express - PE riders even stayed in rooms in the house. Going inside, although we hadn’t planned to, we paid the admission to take a quick walk through what was a truly excellent museum of period displays, with tons of stuff crammed into very effective presentations. My favorite was a beautifully restored and painted stagecoach exactly like the scale model I am building. There was even a full size railroad engine in the back inside of the museum. Upstairs we could view guest rooms done up as they would have been in the PE era. Having to keep it moving, we sadly left and moved on to the Pony Express Museum. After looking the stuff in Patee House we didn’t really need this, so we looked around the adjacent park and found some signage on things including the Oregon and California trails, and noted we were on the auto route for the California and Pony Express NHTs [MO]. Ken had seen a photo of a large PE sculpture that we couldn’t find, so we asked about it in the museum and were given directions up the block. We didn’t spot it, however, so we bailed and scoped out a nearby Taco Bell for lunch; it turned out to be across the street from the sculpture!

Flooded Missouri River

Interpretive panels ...

... about Lewis and Clark

Maybe flagpole base ...

... with Pony Express ...

... and OR/CA trail info

John Patee House

Lots of PE info ...

... including monument

NPS sign and trail emblem

Ken taking a photo of ...

... the NHL plaque

Cool stagecoach!

Me hanging on

One of the hotel rooms

Pony Express stables

Ken with OR/CA trail info

Me photoing ...

The Trail auto route signs

The elusive PE statue

National Historic Trails (Non-Units) - Multi-State[O-P]