Oregon-California Trails Articles
1858 Lander Cutoff
Archived: 2026
The Lander Road, also known as the Lander Trail or Lander Cutoff, was the first US government-sponsored road for emigrants heading to Oregon and California. The Lander Road gave travelers on the Oregon Trail and the California Trail a straight path through the mountain ranges in southwestern Wyoming and southeastern Idaho. Prior to its completion […]
1852 Nobles Road
Archived: 2026
The road pioneered by William Nobles between Rye Patch Reservoir and Shasta, California was advertised as the being shorter and more practical than any other roads to the northern gold fields. From a topographical perspective, it seems to have lived up to that reputation being shorter than either the route of Donner Pass or the […]
1852 Ham’s Fork Cutoff (Meeker)
Archived: 2026
The history and date of the Ham’s Fork Cutoff has not been established but it is shown on the 1852 Ezra Meeker map. Some segments are also shown on the GLO survey plat maps of the area. the cutoff avoided the Fort Bridger loop. Its highest elevation, just west of Kemmerer, Wyoming, was 7277 feet, […]
1850 Daggett-Georgetown Trail
Archived: 2026
The Daggett Pass-Georgetown Pack Trail was opened in 1850 providing access to mines in present Placer and Nevada counties. It left the Carson Valley, climbed present Daggett Pass (better-known as Kingsbury Grade), and continued west across the Sierra Mountains to Georgetown. By 1857, it was improved for wagons. Map file: KML | KMZ Static Map
1850 Child’s Cutoff
Archived: 2026
Wyoming History starts an article about Emigrant Hill on the Child’s Cutoff with: The Child’s Cutoff of the Oregon Trail was opened in 1850. This new route allowed emigrants who had been following the Council Bluffs Road along the north bank of the Platte River to remain on the north side and so avoid having […]
1849 Henness Pass Trail
Archived: 2026
The Henness Pass Trail/Road connected Virginia City, Nevada (and Carson City) with Marysville, California. West of Hoke Valley, California in 1849, it was just a trail. East of Hoke Valley, the 1852 road route is intermingled with some of the earlier routes, but its route west of Reno to Carson City was distinct. Its highest […]
1848 Carson River Road
Archived: 2026
Aliases: Carson River Road, Carson Pass Road, Carson River Route Map files: KML | KMZ This route was made into a wagon road in 1848 by the Mormon Battalion on their way to Salt Lake City from California. They left Placerville with 17 wagons and worked the existing trail so it would pass wagons. The […]
1848 Burnett Cutoff
Archived: 2026
The 1848 Burnett Cutoff was used when traveling between western Oregon and northern California. It was a shortcut between the Lassen (California) and Applegate (Oregon) Trails. Map files: KML | KMZ Static Map
1846 Mormon Pioneer Trail
Archived: 2026
Aliases: Mormon Trail, Mormon Pioneer Trail, Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail Download route: KML | KMZ Leaving from Omaha/Council Bluffs in 1846, the Mormon Pioneers used this route to go from Council Bluffs to the Great Salt Lake Valley. They stayed on the north side of the Platte River moving westward to Fort Laramie. They […]
Lassen Route
1848 California Trails Route
Archived: 2021
Aliases: Lassen Trail, Applegate Trail (Rye Patch Reservoir to Goose Lake) This was a route from the Humboldt River at Rye Patch Reservoir to Vina, California via Goose Lake on the California-Oregon border. In actuality, Peter Lassen only had to pioneer the portion of the route from Goose Lake to Vina. The road from Rye […]