• Summit Valley IV
  Summit Valley I, Summit Valley II, Summit Valley III Van Dusen Road/ Coxey Truck Trail from Cajon Summit to Holcomb Valley He (Hoffman) ...
• Mojave Trail
  Mojave Trail Monument at Las Flores Ranch This secluded valley once bore primitive traffic and knew the lithe tread of native feet. The ancient ...
• Agua Mansa
  Traders in the caravans coming to California did not just trade with those at the missions, but with any group or community ...
• Cajon Pass Trails — Notes
  Originally, possibly a footpath for trade and society. There is no written record of that. After explorers, and then trade ...
• Cajon Pass Wagon Road Divide
  Road traces just below the Cajon Summit Just east of the Cajon Summit is where the historic traffic corridor in and out of ...
• Walkah
  From: Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a Pioneer in the Path of Empire, 1822-1903 Walkara Walkara and his brother Arapeen The water of Little Salt Lake is ...
• Springs & Things — Before Time Began
  I have heard that the Paiute Indians have a legend–a story they would tell about a giant who crossed the desert with ...
• The Las Vegas Mormon Fort
  A Midpoint Waystation on the Mormon Road In April 1855, Brigham young, President of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, called ...
• The Stoddard Boys
  Of all the brother acts operating in and around San Bernardino County during the Mormon period, Few accomplished more for the ultimate ...
• Naming Death Valley
  In 1849 in the rush to the goldfields of California the Bennett-Arcane party of the Mojave-San Joaquin wagon train decided to try ...
• A Massacre at Resting Springs
  From: Shoshone Country; Resting Springs – Loafing Along Death Valley Trails by W. Caruthers Resting Springs Early in 1843, John C. Fremont led a ...
• Mormon Wagon Road – 1864
  Mountain Meadows, Virgin River, Muddy River, Las Vegas Springs (Mormon Fort). Resting Springs, Salt Springs, Bitter Springs. Bitter Springs, Impassible Pass, Camp Cady, Forks ...
• Across the Mojave – Mountain Meadows
  Mountain Meadows–the dark valley where in late 1857 the murder of 135 men, women and children took place. They were rendered defenseless ...
• Some Thoughts
  Sometimes the fastest way from point A to point B would be a straight line. To the uninitiated, there is something rather uncertain ...
• The Old Spanish Trail had become increasingly used as a pack mule trail between New Mexico and California, and with this traffic ...
• Pioneer Trail
  Pioneer Trail – by Mintor Jackson Steorts Wagon wheel furrows cut deep in the sand,winding through desolate desert land,on through arroyos, climbing a ...

Trail Photos

OST Introduction

Between 1829 and 1848, commercial traders, explorers, horse thieves, and settlers traveled this difficult pack trail between the Spanish colonies in New Mexico and southern California. Each spring, trade caravans left Santa Fe with dozens of pack mules loaded with woolen blankets woven in New Mexico and made the lengthy trek to southern California’s coastal settlements. This long-distance pack trail network came to be known as the “Old Spanish Trail”.

~ Bureau of Land Management