National Scenic Trails

Continental Divide National Scenic Trail
The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail was designated for its scenic significance. It is also considered the ‘King of Trails’, more difficult than its sister long distance trails, the Appalachian and Pacific Crest. It navigates dramatically diverse ecosystems through mountain meadows, granite peaks, and high-desert surroundings. Upon designation in 1978, Congress identified a corridor for this trail, straddling along the backbone of the North American continent --the Divide-- for the future placement of the trail. When complete, the trail will climb and descend the peaks and cross the high-deserts of the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico for 3,100 miles.

National Historic Trails

California National Historic Trail
The California National Historic Trail was a mid-19th century highway for human movement to lures of gold and farmland in California. Numerous routes emerged in attempts to create the best available course. These fostered commerce and encouraged the development of transportation and communication networks. There were many changes in cultures of Native Americans along the way as hundreds of thousands of people and animals used the trail. Designated in 1992, this trail commemorates that which brought the country closer together and today offers auto touring, educational programs and visitor centers to present-day gold seekers and explorers.

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail
Designated in October 2000, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail recognizes the primary route between the colonial Spanish capital of Mexico City and the Spanish provincial capitals in what are now Mexico and New Mexico between the 16th and 19th centuries. The “Royal Road of the Interior” introduced Europeans, their institutions, and their goods, into the heart of the indigenous world of long-lived Pueblo communities and their nomadic neighbors. Today, the cultural corridor created along the Camino Real reflects the heritage and riches of Native America, the Old World, and the modern societies of the United States and Mexico. BLM jointly administers the trail with the National Park Service.

Iditarod National Historic Trail
Designated in 1978, this 2,200 mile winter trail system first connected prehistoric Native Alaskan villages, became a major settlement route for Gold Rush-era Alaska, and continues to play a vital role in modern-day Alaska. The main trail from Seward to Nome was first mapped and marked by the U.S. Army in 1908. Alaskan freight and mail haulers relied primarily on dogsleds, while travelers also used snowshoes, skis, and the occasional bicycle. Today, BLM administers this trail, used by thousands of winter recreation enthusiasts, subsistence hunters, inter-village travelers, and three internationally recognized long-distance winter races.

Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail commemorates Spanish Commander Anza’s route taken on the expedition to bring colonists to the San Francisco bay area in 1775-1776. In exploring the trail today, one can experience diverse deserts, mountains, and coastal areas, and learn the historical roles of American Indian and Spanish cultures in the settlement of Arizona and California.

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began their journey along what is now the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. With significant assistance from American Indian tribes along the route, the expedition was able to map and explore extensive western lands acquired only one year earlier from France by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. Today, BLM manages stretches of the trail which look essentially the same as when Lewis and Clark first saw them. The only remnant of the expedition is Captain Clark's signature at Pompey’s Pillar National Monument in Montana. The trail was designated in to recognize the route’s role in shaping the Nation’s identity. Today, thousands of visitors follow this 3,700-mile, 11-State route that extends from Camp Wood, Illinois, to the Oregon coast.

Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail
The Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail once carried tens of thousands of Mormon emigrants to the Great Basin. In 1847, Mormon Church leader Brigham Young led pioneers west toward the Great Salt Lake Valley, across about 1,200 miles of extreme climate and terrain. Today, the historic route and sites along the way offer a glimpse into the Mormon settlement history.

Nez Perce (Nee Me Poo) National Historic Trail
Added to the National Trails System in 1986, the Nez Perce National Historic Trail commemorates the flight of the Nez Perce Indians from their homeland in the Pacific Northwest to Canada to escape capture by the U.S. military. Using an indirect escape route as dictated by terrain and strategy, the Nez Perce passed through four states and traveled over 1,170 miles, from Wallowa Lake, Oregon, to the Bear Paw Battlefield near Chinook, Montana.

The Old Spanish National Historic Trail
The Old Spanish National Historic Trail opened a land route across 19th century Mexico between the Tierra Adentro, the fabled, yet isolated place that would become New Mexico, and California’s missions and burgeoning settlements. When he left Abiquiu, New Mexico for California in 1829 with 40 men and 200 pack mules, Antonio Armijo blazed a trail between the two colonies that had frustrated explorers for over a century. The Abiquiu party’s woolen blankets and tanned hides were welcomed in textile-starved California. In return, the horses and mules Armijo and his followers on the trail brought east would become the working stock for miners, American and Mexican military, and farmers from northern Mexico to the east coast of the United States.

Oregon National Historic Trail
For over 80 years in the nineteenth century, an estimated 300,000 emigrants used the Oregon National Historic Trail as a pathway to the Pacific. Fur traders, gold seekers, missionaries and others traveled west on the approximately 2,000 miles of trail, from Missouri towards the Rocky Mountains to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The once 5-month journey can now be traveled via auto touring, and portions can be travel via foot, mountain bike, and horseback.

Pony Express National Historic Trail
The Pony Express National Historic Trail is the route where young men on horseback once carried the nation’s mail across the country between 1860 and 1861. The horse-and-rider system became the United States’ most direct and practical means of east-west communications before the telegraph, delivering mail in the unprecedented time of ten days. Today, one can auto-tour the route visiting interpretive sites and museums, or hike, bike, or horseback ride various trail segments.