Jim1eddoc
Apple Valley CA
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Interested in following the Lewis & Clark trail in the motor home. Has anyone done this? Can't seem to find any mapping using today's roads.
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rgatijnet1
Florida
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We have crisscrossed it in several states from the East out to Montana, but we never tried to follow it by highway. On the Natcheze Trace trail you will find the grave of Meriwether Lewis and the story about his mysterious death.
A search online will give you many sites that have info on the journey and ways that you can experience it today. National Park Service
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More To See
San Diego Area
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We followed the historic trail all the way from Pittsburgh down the Ohio to St Louis and then up the Missouri and on to Fort Clatsop in 2005. I suspect a lot of the local historic coverage for that 200 year anniversary period is long gone now -- but it's still well worth doing. It's in the bucket list for another trip someday.
Here's a start:Collection of links
Region maps for L&C trail
Also, for lots more, do a Google on:
lewis clark 200
Amazon Link to book on the trail from Wash. DC all the way west:
Amazon Link
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bsinmich
Holland, MI
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We did it in 2003 with a couple of Grandchildren. We got as far as Yellowstone and then came back homme. We began in St.Louis and followed as close as possible by highways and hit all of the points of interest.
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wa_desert_rat
Central Washington State
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You can read the journals of the expedition including writing from both Lewis and Clark in addition to many anecdotes from other members of the group at http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/ .
A friend and I used these journals to visit the spot where the expedition met with First Nations tribal members (Chinook) at the mouth of Bachelor Slough where it meets the Columbia River a few miles west of Portland, Oregon. We were in the area when the "re-enactors" who were allegedly following the route launched at Ridgefield, WA and paddled a few miles down Bachelor Slough to do a well-publicized "re-enactment" (nowhere near the real spot) and then paddled back, loaded up their canoes and left.
We had naively assumed that they would follow the actual route and missed everything but the loading back onto the trailers for the next publicity deal.
However the site of the original village is interesting to visit (by kayak). Where there had been many villages and perhaps 50,000 people within 5 or 10 miles there is little evidence of human activity. A few log booming pilings, a navigation marker on the Columbia and some signs warning people not to land on the former village site is all that's there.
With Google Earth and the journals you should be able to get pretty close to the route but everything from Idaho west is via water.
Craig
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polly sue
Colorado
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Did a bit of it in 2009 in Montana. Stayed in Helena and drove the Jeep to Great Falls. (Stopped at Gates of the Mountains on the way to GF, famous for the huge forest fire in 1949 chronicled by Norman McClean in Young Men and Fire.) There is a terrific Lewis & Clark Museum/Information Center in Great Falls. Then took the coach up to near the top of LoLo Pass, where there is a funky but charming campground a couple miles east of the summit (an easy blacktop two lane road) that accommodated our 38' DP. Had a creekside site. Took the Jeep to the summit where there is another information center. (The Idaho border where L&C thought they'd be able to see the Pacific!)
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CloudDriver
New Jersey Shore
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We have not tried to follow the L&C Trail, but have visited a number L&C sites on various trips west. We bought a copy of Along the Trail with Lewis and Clark and found it a very valuable reference. I also read Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose, a very interesting read.
X2 on the recommendation to visit the L&C Interpretive Center in Great Falls. Go to the adjacent Giant Spring when you are there. There is an Interpretive Center in Washburn ND and a reconstruction of Fort Mandan nearby. The Interpretive Center in Nebraska City NB was good too. A couple of years ago we stopped in Lolo MT at the site of the L&C Traveler's Rest campsite. Recent archeological evidence disclosed their actual campsite.
We plan to visit Pompey's pillar and Spirit Mound on this year's trip.
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ArchHoagland
Clovis, CA, USA
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Ft Clatsop
We have been to west end of the trail at Ft Clatsop and hit various parts of it when going across the country.
I read the entire journal and those were some tough people!
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Johnworth914
USA!
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We started in St. Louis and followed the path on and off for a few weeks, finally ending in Oregon. Our son enjoyed it.
Alaska is next! Still trying to fit the pontoons to the RV so We can get to Hawaii!
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D.E.Bishop
Eagle Rock, CA
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We haven't followed the trail but the DW has been reading Untaunted Courage for a couple of years and we have visited Ft. Clatsop and other site along the Columbia from Beacon Rock to the mouth of the river. When you get to the mouth of the Columbia River you might enjoy Ft. Stevens. It is very big but very nice campground. We took the DGKs last summer and they loved it. We were in loop H, site 31 in our rig. You can go to the firewood kiosh and sign up for wood delivery. Kind of neat feature. They have three grades of wood, I believe it is tinder, kindling and firewood. The two smaller sizes are from dementional lumber and can be transported from state to state, the firewood is split wood and must be burned there. If you have kids or not you really need to visit Ft. Clatsop, there are a lot of docents and they give exhibitions at different times during the day. There was one on food and cooking which was really great, DGKs are no pretty good at flint and steel firemaking because of that demonstration. Lots to do and see in those two places. There was a lot of info on the Oregon State website during the bicentennial, it may be gone but you should try.
"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to go". R. L. Stevenson
David Bishop
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