Basic Information

GIS Data and Information

For Geographic Information System data regarding the trail, please visit Resource Information Management at the National Trails office.

 

Physical Address

Trail sites are located across 2,000 miles and 10 states. The California Trail is administered by the NPS office located at:

National Trails Office Regions 6, 7, & 8
California National Historic Trail
1100 Old Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe, NM 87505

Directions

Those portions of the California National Historic Trail authorized by Congress include nearly 2,000 miles of historic trail that was once the primary "road" taken by farmers, enterprising business managers, gold-seekers, and fortune hunters who chose to make a new life on the California frontier. The route passes through ten states from Missouri to California.

Directions Details

Operating Hours & Seasons

All Park Hours

• Every Day:Open 24 hours

The California National Historic Trail is not a clearly marked hiking trail. Instead it is a corridor that passes through communities, urban areas, public lands, and Wilderness. The route travels across a variety of land ownerships and management, including private land. Each location varies as to the hours of operation and access. Please contact individual trail sites before your visit for more information.

Weather

Due to the length of the California National Historic Trail, be sure to consult local weather sources for the region you'll be visiting. Check out the forecast with the National Weather Service and search for the area you'd like to visit: weather.gov

National Weather Service

Fees & Passes

Entrance Fee-free

This site is fee-free year-round. No entrance fee or pass is required.

Internet & Cellular Access

Public WiFi is not available.

The California National Historic Trail is a mixture of private, municipal, tribal, federal, and state lands that stretches for hundreds of miles across several states. Services, including public WiFi and Cellular access, vary from location to location. Contact the individual Trail sites you are planning to visit to find out if internet and/or cell phone service is available.

Internet & Cellular Access Details

 

Scotts Bluff National Monument is located in Nebraska and the rock formations served as important landmarks for emigrants.

NPS photo

Trail Administration

The California National Historic Trail (NHT) was designated by Congress in 1992 and is administered by the National Park Service as a component of the National Trails System. Despite the name, the California NHT is not a continuous traditional trail from end to end, but consists of many trail traces, structures, graves, landmarks, and markers left on the landscape to remind us that the trail still lives on.

Protect the Trail

To foster trail preservation, do not use metal detectors, dig at sites, collect artifacts, or remove anything. Please respect these historic places.

 

More Trip Planning Information:

• 

  Read all about it

  Trail Brochures

  Find brochures, maps, guides, and other literature about the Trail.

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  Find Trail Sites to Visit

  Places to Go

  Where can you visit the trail? Use the interactive map to find places to visit.