Last updated: January 14, 2023
Place
Hart Grove Creek Campground and Crossing at Marion Park
Photo/NPS
Quick Facts
Location:
Marion Park is southeast of the corner of U.S. Highway 71 (Bruce R. Watkins Drive) and East Bannister Road (County Road West)
Significance:
Hart Grove Campground, which is located in the park along Hart Grove Creek, was the campsite for many travelers along the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon trails as well as for the ill-fated 1846 Donner Party.
MANAGED BY:
Kansas City
Amenities
2 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Trailhead
This picturesque valley was the campsite of the infamous 1846 Donner Party and thousands of other emigrants during the heyday of the overland trail system. Wild game and fish plentiful in this lush valley system of fords and streams leading into the Big Blue River, unlike many stretches of the trail that lay ahead.
As travelers moved west, scouts sometimes had to venture more than a mile from the established trails to forage for wild game because the noise and commotion of so many wagon trains moving west day-to-day forced animals to stay clear of the noise and commotion of the trail and the hunters set on supplementing their supplies with game.
Site Information
Location (Marion Park is southeast of the corner of U.S. Highway 71 (Bruce R. Watkins Drive) and East Bannister Road (County Road West))
Available Facilities
A greenway across the property has been developed as part of a larger, two-mile-long trail project.
Exhibits
Exhibits include outdoor exhibits and stone markers delineating the trail corridor along the creek.