Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

National Trails System - National Park Service

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The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail commemorates the removal of the Cherokee and the paths that 17 Cherokee detachments followed westward. Today the trail includes about 2,200 miles of land and water routes, and traverses portions of nine states.

In 1838 the U.S. Army implemented a federal government policy to remove American Indians from their homelands in the southern Appalachian Mountains to facilitate settlement by whites. The Cherokees were driven from their homes into stockades scattered throughout Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, and then moved to internment camps in southeastern Tennessee. From there, detachments of Cherokees were forcibly moved over water and land routes to Indian Territory (in what is now Oklahoma). Approximately 16,000 men, women, and children made the sorrowful journey – a journey made under adverse conditions and accompanied by a high rate of illness and death.

To commemorate these tragic events, Congress designated the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail in 1987. Even though the federal government forced several southeastern tribes to move during the 1820s and 1830s, the congressionally designated trail is specific to the Cherokee experience.

The National Historic Trails System, established by the National Trails System Act of 1968, commemorates historic routes and promotes their preservation, and development for public use.

National Historic Trails recognize diverse facets of history such as prominent past routes of exploration, migration, trade, communication and military action. The historic trails generally consist of remnant sites and trail segments, and thus are not necessarily contiguous. Although National Historic Trails are administered by federal agencies, land ownership may be in public or private hands. Of the 16 National Historic Trails, 12 are administered by the National Park Service, one by the USDA Forest Service, one by the Bureau of Land Management, and two jointly by the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

Learn more about the National Trails System, including National Historic, Scenic, and Recreation Trails. View the National Trails System map.

The National Park Service, together with partners, administers the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail through staff at an office in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

To contact the National Trails System-Santa Fe:

National Trails System-Santa Fe
P.O. Box 728
Santa Fe, NM 87504-0728

By Phone
Visitor Information
(505) 988-6888

By Fax
(505) 986-5214

By Email:
lodi_administration@nps.gov

Brainerd Mission
Chattanooga, Tennessee