Last updated: June 6, 2026
Place
Bidwell Pass
L. Kreutzer
Quick Facts
Location:
Bidwell Pass is on the southern slope of Pilot Peak, about 11 miles north of West Wendover, Nevada. GPS “California Lay to the West” wayside at turnoff: 40.910677 -114.0839767 GPS Bidwell Pass: 40.903328 -114.092286
Significance:
The 1841 Bidwell-Bartleson Company was the first group of overland emigrants to cross this pass, with no map of a route, on their way to California. Later California-bound travelers on the Hastings Cutoff used this pass in 1846-1850.
Designation:
Historic Site on the Pony Express and California NHTs.
MANAGED BY:
Bureau of Land Management
Amenities
3 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Scenic View/Photo Spot, Wheelchair Accessible
Bidwell Pass, on the southern flank of Pilot Peak, is informally named for John Bidwell, a member of the 1841 Bidwell-Bartleson Party that was first to go overland to California. John James, also a member of that party, wrote in his journal, “In the evening we left the salt plain, turned our course to the west, crossed the mountain through a gap [later called Bidwell Pass] and could find no water.”
Edwin Bryant, traveling five years later with the first company on the Hastings Cutoff, found and recognized their faint track approaching the pass. “From the indentations of the wheels, where the earth was soft, five or six wagons had passed here. The appearance of this trail in this desolate region was at first inexplicable; but I soon recollected that some five or six years ago an emigrating expedition to California was fitted out by Colonel Bartlettson, Jr. J. Chiles, and others, of Missouri…”
Others following the Hastings Cutoff crossed the pass in 1846-1850. Trail trace left by their wagons parallels and crosses the modern unpaved road approaching the pass. An interpretive wayside exhibit near the road tells of the trail’s history and provides a map of the emigrant trails that passed north and south of the Great Salt Lake.
To reach the turnout, take I-80 Exit 4, turn north, and drive past the fuel station. At the first Y intersection beyond the station, keep left. At the second Y, stay left and drive 6.3 miles on a paved section of Pilot Peak Rd to the cattle guard at the Utah-Nevada state line. Continue north for 6.2 miles on the unpaved road to an auto tour route sign for the trail, which also marks where the Hastings Cutoff crosses the road. On the left is a turnout with an interpretive wayside exhibit and a large Bureau of Land Management sign for the Hastings Cutoff. Between them stands a t-shaped trail marker with an emigrant quote. The crossbar on the marker is aligned with the direction of the original trail, which continues southwesterly and reaches Bidwell Pass in 0.8 mile. That section of historic trail to the pass can be hiked. Because a vehicle’s hot undercarriage can ignite dry vegetation, driving the section is not recommended.
Site Information
Location (Bidwell Pass is on the southern slope of Pilot Peak, about 11 miles north of West Wendover, Nevada. GPS “California Lay to the West” wayside at turnoff: 40.910677 -114.0839767 GPS Bidwell Pass: 40.903328 -114.092286)