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National Parks Traveler Episode 177: Following The Oregon Trail At Scotts Bluff

Traveling the Oregon Trail Through Scotts Bluff National Monument
The Oregon Trail stretched roughly 2,170 miles from Missouri to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. It rambled across prairie, sagebrush desert and mountains. From the 1840s into the 1880s, hundreds of thousands of immigrants made the challenging journey, and not all survived. Today more than 120 historic sites, auto tour routes, and markers show us where the Oregon Trail traveled.
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National Parks Traveler Episode 176: Exploring National Parks In America's Heartland

Exploring national parks in the heartland of America
There are many lessor known parks and historical sites in the National Park System that provide not just stunning landscapes but interesting glimpses into American history. This week, we catch up with Kurt Repanshek, the editor of the National Parks Traveler, during his exploration of these lessor known spots in the heartland of America, Nebraska and Kansas.
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A Touch Of Delight On The Oregon Trail

Of 19 national historic trails administered by the National Park Service in conjunction with several other federal agencies, four – California, Oregon, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express - follow the Platte River Valley across Nebraska. Both the California and the Oregon National Historic Trails pass through Ash Hollow, a favorite stop for many pioneers as noted in their journals.

Be Surprised By America's National Parks

The two of us have enjoyed a half century of travel, much of it devoted to visiting America’s national parks. The initial three decades involved travel in a series of four Volkswagen campers, a vehicle we loved, but that disappeared in 2004 from VW dealers in the United States. If only the company would export its California van to the U.S. More recently we tented and stayed in national park lodges. The many national park visits offered some wonderful surprises including these ten that we seem to remember best.

National Historic Trails Interpretive Center To Lead Trek To Pioneer Graves

The Oregon Trail is this nation’s longest graveyard. Nearly one in ten emigrants who set off on the trail did not survive. Although death was not uncommon along the pioneer trails, designated marked gravesites were. Lack of materials, time, weather conditions, and terrain were all reasons that emigrants did not bury the ill-fated. However, despite the mass westward migration ending over 150 years, some pioneer grave sites are still visible.

Scotts Bluff National Monument Visitor Center To Be Overhauled

A much-needed rehabilitation of the Scotts Bluff National Monument visitor center is scheduled to get underway in January and run for about nine months. During that time period, a trailer will be set up to handle visitor service and retail operations. The park will not close during the construction and all visitor services will be available to the public.

Scotts Bluff And Fort Laramie: Is The Oregon Trail In Your Family History?

Stratton family lore has my ancestors migrating west on the Oregon Trail. I’m not entirely sure if I believe it, since trail use greatly declined when the Transcontinental Railroad was finished in 1869 and my relatives didn’t arrive in Oregon until the 1880s. But there are accounts of the trail being used through the 1890s, so it is possible. Either way, the Stratton clan ended up in eastern Oregon operating a stagecoach station on the road between John Day and Burns.
  • By stratto - March 8th, 2018 8:36am

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.