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324 South State St, Ste 250, PO Box 45155, National Park Service, Long Distance Trails Office, Salt Lake City, UT 84145
Phone: 801-539-4095 or 307-261-7648
Fax: 801-539-4098
Open All Year
Overview. The California National Historic Trail is arguably the most ambitious, and definitely the longest, of the National Park Service's trail systems. Including cutoffs and alternate routes, the California National Historic Trail comprises an impressive 5,665 miles of scenic and historic trails. The Historic Trail was established in 1992 and passes through Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, and California. This was the main route of the gold miners, homesteaders, ranchers, and immigrants as they made pilgrimage from America's midwestern heartland westward to forge new lives and seek their fortunes in the American West. The passage of thousands, dating from the 1840s and 1850s, is evident in nearly 1,100 miles of trail and wagon wheel ruts that pay mute testimony to America's pioneer heritage.What to see and do. The California National Historic Trail is relatively new. The National Park Service is still developing a comprehensive system of historic sites, auto routes and public land access to the trail. If you're interested in following the trail your best bet would be to approach it at a state level. Trail segments in any of the nine states through which the trail passes will take you through state park lands and near historic sites. For information about trail routes, state trail administration contacts, historic sites, and trail conditions contact either the National Park Service's Long Distance Trails Office in Salt Lake City, Utah at 801-539-4095, or the Bureau of Land Management, Historic Trails Office, in Casper, Wyoming at 307-261-7648.
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Please call ahead to confirm details. We do our best to give you current information, but facts can change. Please let us know if you find something's changed.
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