Key Landmarks & Attractions

Visit the landscape of the moon without leaving the earth. Located just west of Idaho Falls, on the edge of YTT

Fort Bridger was established in 1843 by Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez as an emigrant supply post along the Oregon Trail. It was obtained by the Mormons in the early 1850's and became a US military post in 1858.

Nathaniel Wyeth, an enterprising entrepreneur from Boston, built Fort Hall on the banks of the Snake River in 1834 as a supply post for fur traders and local Indians. He sold the post to the British Hudson's Bay Company in 1838.

Independence Rock is one of the most noted landmarks on the Oregon Trail. It was named for the legend that emigrants needed to reach this point by July 4 to safely make it over the mountains, although emigrants arrived at the site throughout the traveling season.

The National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center is located on Flagstaff Hill, an important Oregon Trail landmark situated five miles east of Baker City.

The National Historic Trails Center overlooks the North Platte River near an important trail crossing. Here the trail left the North Platte and headed to Independence Rock on the Sweetwater River.

Oregon Trail travelers often stopped at the numerous hot and cold mineral springs in the vicinity of present-day Soda Springs, Idaho. The springs were naturally carbonated, giving Soda Springs its name.

South Pass is the most important landmark on the Oregon Trail, and made travel across the continent and westward migration possible. Rather than a narrow gap, South Pass is miles wide. Here, the emigrants crossed the Continental Divide, moving from stream drainage to the Atlantic Ocean to that of the Pacific Ocean. Once Oregon Trail travelers crossed South Pass, they entered Oregon Country.

The National Oregon/California Trail Center offers a unique and entertaining interpretive adventure, simulating a wagon train experience of the 1850s.

Three Island Crossing is the general name for the place where Oregon Trail travelers crossed the Snake River. Two different crossings in the area were labeled Three Island Crossing. One crossing was a ford that did not require swimming or floating, and it was called Three Island Ford.

In 1836 Marcus and Narcissa Whitman established a Protestant mission on the Walla Walla River, in what was then known as Oregon Country, to serve the Cayuse Indians.The mission was on the route of the Oregon Trail, which went down the Walla Walla River to the Columbia River. In the 1840s many Oregon Trail emigrants stopped at the mission for supplies or wagon repairs.