Last updated: January 14, 2023
Place
Hastings Pass
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
Take Interstate 80 to Exit 56 for Aragonite. Drive south 2 miles, turn east on gravel Hastings Pass road. It is a 4 mile drive to the summit.
Significance:
First major obstacle for emigrants on Hastings Cutoff on the California Trail
MANAGED BY:
As the trail climbed west in Utah, further into the Cedar Mountains to Hastings Pass, a low ridge today named after Lansford W. Hastings, who opened this trail. Original wagon ruts can still be seen from the top of the pass where they make the climb up the east side. Once on top, the ox teams had to make a sharp turn to the right on the narrow ridge, then make another sharp ridge to the left and finally another sharp right to continue down the drainage.
The pass was the first major obstacle for emigrants attempting the crossing. They had 75 more miles to go before reaching fresh water.
Hastings Cutoff
The Hastings Cutoff route was used from 1846 to 1850 by pioneers and gold rushers attempting to save 300 miles off the normal route to California via Idaho. This route was first pioneered by the Fremont expedition in 1845 and promoted a year later by the ambitious Lansford W. Hastings as a shorter route to the Humboldt River in Nevada. However, the Hastings Cutoff involved a perilous 90-mile waterless trek across the Great Salt Lake Desert sand dunes and mud flats in mid-summer heat with heavy wagons.
Site Information
Location (Take Interstate 80 to Exit 56 for Aragonite. Drive south 2 miles, turn east on gravel Hastings Pass road. It is a 4 mile drive to the summit.)
This road is an unpaved, gravel road. Please check for road conditions and appropriate vehicles before planning a visit.