The Oregon Trail is a 2,170-mile (3,490 km) historic East–West, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of the future state of Kansas, and nearly all of what are now the states of Nebraska and Wyoming. read more
Trail Facts Questions & Answers About the Oregon Trail The trail facts which appear on our website are the work of Dr. Robert Munkres, our resident historical expert, who compiled them from various sources. read more
Oregon Trail An overview of the Oregon Trail. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The Oregon Trail, which stretched for about 2,000 miles (3,200 km), flourished as the main means for hundreds of thousands of emigrants to reach the Northwest from the early 1840s through the 1860s. read more