National Historic Trails - Lewis and Clark Trail

Jurisdiction: National Park Service
Established: 1978
Route: 3,700 miles (5,960 km)

In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Territory and the"Oregon Country." Setting out in boats from what is today Wood River, Illinois, and following the Missouri River upstream, their expedition eventually reached the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1805 and returned east the next year. In Idaho and western Montana, the route follows roads and trails as it crosses the Rocky Mountain passes. Along the route, state, local, and private interests have established motor routes, roadside interpretive markers, and museum exhibits telling the Lewis and Clark story.

Retrace the Lewis and Clark expedition by car: Driving the Voyage of Discovery.

Contents:

• The Corps of Discovery
• The Co-Commanders
• Exploring with Lewis and Clark
• Points Along the Trail
• More Points Along the Trail

• An Epic Journey
• The Mandan Indian Villages
• The Great Falls
• Gates Of The Mountains
• The Rocky Mountains
• The Three Forks
• Third Range Of Mountains
• The Beaver's Head
• Fourth Range Of Mountains
• Fifth Range Of Mountains
• The Continental Divide And The Shoshone Indians
• Searching For Navigable Waters And Bargaining For Horses
• Three Options
• The Bitterroot Valley And The Flathead Indians
• To The Ocean
• The Return Journey
• The Rendezvous And The Home Stretch