Basic Information

GIS Data and Information

For Geographic Information System data regarding the trail, please visit Resource Information Management at the National Trails office.

 

Trail sites are located across 2,000 miles and 10 states. The California Trail is administered by the NPS office located at:

 
visitors stand in front of a cream building with brown shingles with a green lawn and a large rock buttress behind.
Scotts Bluff National Monument is located in Nebraska and the rock formations served as important landmarks for emigrants.

NPS photo

Trail Administration

The California National Historic Trail (NHT) was designated by Congress in 1992 and is administered by the National Park Service as a component of the National Trails System. Despite the name, the California NHT is not a continuous traditional trail from end to end, but consists of many trail traces, structures, graves, landmarks, and markers left on the landscape to remind us that the trail still lives on.

Protect the Trail

To foster trail preservation, do not use metal detectors, dig at sites, collect artifacts, or remove anything. Please respect these historic places.

 

More Trip Planning Information:

Last updated: August 1, 2023

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Contact Info

Mailing Address:

National Trails Office Regions 6|7|8
California National Historic Trail
1100 Old Santa Fe Trail

Santa Fe, NM 87505

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