Part of a series of articles titled Lewis and Clark Trail 2022 Annual Report.
Article
2022 Update: High Potential Historic Sites
About this article: This article was originally published in the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Annual Report 2022.
Article by Brye Lefler. Tribal Partnerships Specialist, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.
The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail is working to identify High Potential Historic Sites (HPHS) along the 2019 Eastern Extension of the Lewis and Clark Trail.
The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail was originally designated when the National Trails System Act was amended to include National Historic Trails, under Title V of the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978. The trail was established as “a trail of approximately three thousand seven hundred miles, extending from Wood River, Illinois, to the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon…”
On March 12, 2019, the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act authorized an extension of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, described as “…a trail of approximately 4,900 miles, extending from the Ohio River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon….”
High Potential Historic Sites are defined in the National Trails System Act, as: “…those historic sites related to the route, or sites in close proximity thereto, which provide opportunity to interpret the historic significance of the trail during the period of its major use.”
In order to be selected as HPHS, each site needed to meet one or more of the following selection criteria:
- Scenic Quality
- Sense of Place
- Freedom from Intrusion
- Presence of Historic Remnants
The National Park Service completed an initial inventory of 78 HPHS along the originally designated portion of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail in 2018. Beginning in 2020, the National Park Service selected a contractor
to begin conducting research to identify HPHS along this newly designated Eastern Extension of the trail. Funding for this research was generously provided by the National Park Foundation. We are currently working to identify the final
selection of HPHS and look forward to sharing them soon.
Historic Places
View a gallery of High Potential Historic Sites along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. Check back regularly as sites are added.
Last updated: January 4, 2023