Mormon Trail
From 1846 to 1869, more than 70,000 Mormons traveled along an integral part of the road west, the Mormon Pioneer Trail. The original Mormon Trail extended 1,300 miles over five states, beginning in Nauvoo, Ill., and traversing Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and into Utah. View full story.
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Chimney Rock
Chimney Rock, a slender pillar of clay rising 500 feet into the sky, was perhaps the most significant landmark along Nebraska’s emigrant trail. Pioneers trekking across the plains were anxious about encountering the giant chimney rising above the bluffs because of its fame. View full story.
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Sweetwater River Crossing
Near Independence Rock, the Mormon Pioneer Trail heads southwest where it meets and follows the Sweetwater River to a place called South Pass. In an effort to shorten the journey and avoid all the twists and turns of the river, emigrants crossed the Sweetwater a total of nine times. View full story.
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Devil's Gate
Devil’s Gate is a narrow 100-meter slot carved through a granite ridge by the Sweetwater River. It proved to be a prominent landmark noted by numerous journal keepers traveling the trail. The slot is more than a quarter mile in length. View full story.
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Independence Rock
Independence Rock, also known as The Register of the Desert, got its name from a fur trader – William Sublette – on July 4, 1830. Another tradition holds that emigrants strived to reach Independence Rock by the Fourth of July in order to beat the winter snowstorms. View full story.
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Martin's Cove
The Martin and Willie Handcart Companies left Iowa City too late in the season to safely make the crossing to the Salt Lake Valley. This became fatally evident when a blizzard dropped between twelve and eighteen inches of snow on the Martin Company on October 19th. View full story.
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Red Butte
Red Butte is known as the most tragic site of the Mormon Pioneer Trail. The Martin Handcart Company camped near Red Butte after fording the North Platte River, and found themselves stranded by a blizzard that fell on October 19, 1856. View full story.
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Rocky Ridge
Rocky Ridge boasts the reputation of being the highest point on the Mormon Pioneer Trail – a staggering 7,300 feet above sea level. The trail over the ridge ascends over 700 feet in elevation in just two miles. View full story.
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Sweetwater River Overlook
The Sweetwater River, located in central Wyoming, is a tributary, or branch of the North Platte River. The Mormon Pioneer Trail meets the Sweetwater River near Independence Rock and continues to follow its bends for nearly 100 miles, to a place called South Pass. View full Story
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