The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail is a route across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

commemorating the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

of 1804 to 1806. It is part of the National Trails System of the United States. It extends for some from

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, to the mouth of the

Columbia River The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. The trail is administered by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

, but sites along the trail are managed by federal land management agencies, state, local, tribal, and private organizations. The trail is not a hiking trail, but provides opportunities for hiking, boating and horseback riding at many locations along the route. The trail is the continuously longest of the 30 National Scenic and National Historic Trails. The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail is approximately long, extending from

to the mouth of the Columbia River, near present-day

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corne ...

. It follows the historic outbound and inbound routes of the Lewis and Clark Expedition as well as the preparatory section from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to

Camp Dubois Camp Dubois (English: Camp Wood), near present-day Wood River, Illinois, served as the winter camp and launch-point for the exploration of the Louisiana Purchase by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Founded at the confluence with the ''Rivièr ...

Wood River, Illinois Wood River is a city in Madison County, Illinois. The population was 10,657 according to the 2010 census. Geography Wood River is located at (38.863047, -90.088527). According to the 2010 census, Wood River has a total area of , of which (or 9 ...

. The Trail connects 16 states (Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon) and many tribal lands. It is administered by the National Park Service.

Features

National Park Service Midwest Reg Headquarters2

The official headquarters for the trail is located at the National Park Service Midwest Regional Headquarters, in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest ...

. The visitor center features exhibits about the explorers and their historic trip, as well as information about sites along the trail. A highway driving route approximates the path taken by the

in 1804–06, between St. Louis, Missouri and the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

. Like the

Great River Road The Great River Road is a collection of state and local roads that follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States. They are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Miss ...

, it is marked along existing roadways, in this case mostly paralleling the

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

and

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

rivers. Roads followed include

Interstate 29 in Iowa In the US state of Iowa, Interstate 29 (I-29) is a north–south Interstate Highway which closely parallels the Missouri River. I-29 enters Iowa from Missouri near Hamburg and heads to the north-northwest through the Omaha–Council Bluff ...

, the appropriately-numbered SD 1804, ND 1804, SD 1806, and ND 1806, and Washington State Route 14. Two separate routes of the trail are signed between St. Louis and East Fairview, North Dakota, one on each side of the Missouri. In

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, it is called the Lewis and Clark Trail Highway and is a state scenic byway. The

Washington State Legislature The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 Representatives, and the upper Washington State Sena ...

designated it as a named highway corridor in 1955, originally from

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

to Clarkston, and later expanded it to include most state highways along the Columbia River from Cape Disappointment to Clarkston.

History

In 1948 the National Park Service proposed a "Lewis and Clark Tour-way" along the Missouri River from

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Three Forks, Montana Three Forks is a city in Gallatin County, Montana, United States and is located within the watershed valley system of both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers drainage basins — and is historically considered the birthplace or start of the ...

. Later, Jay "Ding" Darling proposed the development of the expedition route as a recreational trail. Following a 1966 report by the

Bureau of Outdoor Recreation The Bureau of Outdoor Recreation (BOR) was an agency of the United States Department of the Interior with the mission of planning outdoor recreation opportunities for the Interior Department and assisting private, local, and state organizations w ...

, the National Trails System Act of 1968 listed the route for study as a possible

National Scenic Trail The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...

. The Lewis and Clark Trail Commission published its report in 1969 and identified the route and recreation opportunities. In 1978 the law was amended by the National Parks and Recreation Act to provide for a new category of trail,

National Historic Trail The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...

s, one of which was to be the Lewis and Clark trail. From 2003 to 2006, the National Park Service commemorated the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with the Corps of Discovery II traveling exhibit.NPS: Summary History of Corps II
/ref> The 2019 John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act extended the Trail an additional along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Wood River, Illinois.

References

* *

External links

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail (National Park Service)Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail (NPS Tourism Website)Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage FoundationLewis and Clark Trustlewisandclarktrail.org
{{authority control Columbia River Gorge National Historic Trails of the United States Washington State Scenic and Recreational Highways Protected areas established in 1978 Museums in Omaha, Nebraska History museums in Nebraska Lewis and Clark Expedition Units of the National Landscape Conservation System