Oregon Trail

As we hurtle across the land on smooth roads it is a sobering thought that what takes us 15 minutes to cross in air conditioned or heated comfort was a good days walk for them.

Here is a link to good information from the NPS.

http://www.nps.gov/oreg/index.htm

Jim

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barlow_Road
You can follow the overland route over the Cascades by leaving I84 at The Dalles, takinng US197 south to Tygh Valley, and county and FS (48) roads west to OR35 (and on to US26 to Portland). The Barlow Road parallel to FS48 can driven in a suitably small vehicle (e.g. Wrangler).

Something I learned from the history of the Barlow Road was the importance of water sources along this wagon routes. Where possible the route ran from one spring to the next, if they weren't following a river.

http://www.nps.gov/whmi/forteachers/upload/Section%201%20Guide%20Oregon%20Trail%20Highlights.pdf

Tolls on the Barlow road were $5, a week's wages. But the cost of rafting the Columbia was 10x that.

amandasgramma wrote:
Hwy 84 is the closest to the Oregon trail in Oregon. That route was used. Do not miss seeing the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City. Baker City, itself, is a beautiful old town. :)

LINK

We stayed in Baker City last month and highly recommend visiting the OTIC.

Oregon Trail Baker City in our Trip Journal.

Sadly, I read this post in the paper this morning.......damage to the Oregon Trail!!!!!!!!

LINK

I enjoyed the visitor center at Montpelier ID. They dress in period costume and you walk through exhibits about the trail. I was taking the back roads and camped near this little town. Drove past in the morning and thought...why not?
Montpelier ID

WoodGlue wrote:
You must stand in the wagon ruts to truly appreciate what the pioneers went through. In some places the wagon ruts are 3-4' deep and just cut into the most inhospitable soil you've ever laid eyes on!

WoodGlue

Seems the wagons would have bottomed out with ruts so deep. :E

Wow! Thanks for all of the input so far. I am getting excited and our trip is about a year away.

We are going to try and caravan to the FMCA meeting in Redmond, OR.

Those pictures really tell a tale. The immigrants must have been very naive or very desperate to contemplate such a journey, I am amazed so many survived and prospered.

With just a little online research, you should be able to find good (mostly paved) roads that follow the trail quite closely. I-80 across Nebraska to Ogallala, then US 26, works very well into Wyoming. (One of those places to see ruts is Guernsey SP in eastern Wyoming, along US 26.) Around South Pass is where the Oregon and Mormon Trails split; before that point is a visitor center devoted to the Mormon handcart companies that passed that way, two of which got snowed in due to a late start, and needed rescuing.

In Idaho, some places you may want to stop are the little Oregon Trail museum in Montpelier, the village of Chesterfield (open Memorial Day to Labor Day, though you can drive by it on a series of back roads other times of year), Massacre Rocks State Park (off I-86), and 3 Island Crossing State Park (off I-84). Idaho is very Oregon Trail-conscious!

Both Massacre Rocks & 3 Island Crossing SPs have campgrounds with electric and some water hookups. Not many sites in Massacre Rocks can take large rigs, but you can see pictures & descriptions of each campsite online, which is helpful in making reservations. Chesterfield has an RV park but it's not listed anywhere - we just noticed it when we were there last Memorial Day. Baker, OR also has at least one CG, and there's a nice KOA a little east/northeast of Montpelier, about 3 miles out of town. One of the best Oregon Trail campsites we've had is at Robidoux RV Park, a county-run park in Gering, next to Scottsbluff. Good view of the bluff itself from the CG.