NPS Photo
Windlass Hill wagon ruts at Ash Hollow State Historic Park in western Nebraska.
National Trails System Program
In 1968, Congress enacted the National Trails System Act and in 1978, National Historic Trail designations were added. The National Historic Trails System commemorates these historic routes and promotes their preservation, interpretation and appreciation.
Currently, the Salt Lake City National Trails System Office, administers four of the long distance national historic trails. These trails are all closely related in terms of travel destinations, time periods, and emigrant pioneer experiences. Follow the link at the top of this page to learn more about these other historic trails.
Comprehensive Management and Use Plan
Any organization or individual interested in reviewing the Comprehensive Management and Use Plan for protecting, interpreting, and developing the California National Historic Trail will find this document useful.
This Comprehensive Management and Use Plan / Final Environmental Impact Statement is shaped, in part, by the planning requirements found in section 5(f) of the National Trails System Act (see appendix A). It focuses on the trails’ purpose and significance, resource protection, visitor experience and use, and long-term administrative objectives.
Elements of the proposed plan have been developed in cooperation with federal, state, and local agencies, as well as various nonprofit trail organizations — the entities that form the core of any partnership for national historic trails.
This plan serves as a coordinating document that provides broadbased policies, guidelines, and standards for administering the four trails in such a manner as to ensure the protection of trail resources, their interpretation, and their appropriate public use.
The plan, finalized in 1999, is available either in printed form or as an Acrobat Reader digital document. It includes not only the California NHT, but also the Oregon, Mormon Pioneer, and the Pony Express trails as well.
It is a large PDF document, approximately 19.4mb in size, that can either be downloaded onto your computer station or you may contact the National Trails System Office in Salt Lake City if you would like to have a printed copy mailed to you. Acrobat Reader is required for viewing the document if downloaded.
