The Cherokee Trail - Wagon Roads and Trails on Waymarking.com

The Cherokee Trail was a shortcut for the Oregon Trail that lopped 150 miles off the travel distance but was only suitable to travelers that could travel faster than groups of wagons. It was instrumental in shortening the travel time for gold seekers heading to California. A Colorado Historical Marker just south of the Colorado Wyoming border reads, in part:

The Cherokee Trail

Fourteen California-bound prospectors passed right through here in 1849, roughly following present-day U.S. 287. But rather than continuing north to join the Oregon Trail (the continent’s main east-west thoroughfare), these impatient travelers forged a new route across the desert flats of southern Wyoming, parallel to today’s I-80. They eventually picked up the Oregon Trail at Fort Bridger, having shaved 150 miles off the journey. Their road (dubbed the Cherokee Trail, after the gold party’s Indian members) lacked sufficient water and forage for plodding wagon trains, and thus it drew meager emigrant traffic. But its time-saving trajectory met the needs of U.S. postal officials, who adapted the old Cherokee road to create a new frontier mail route. Renamed the Overland Trail, it emerged in the 1860s as one of the nation’s main westward conduits.

Road of Trail Name: Cherokee Trail State: Colorado County: Larimer Historical Significance: This Trail was an intermediate stage in the ever evolving system of trails through the Great Plains during the middle nineteenth century. Years in use: 15 How you discovered it: The Historical Marker providing information about this section of the Cherokee Trail is located in a Colorado Highway Rest Area where I stopped to take a break. Why?: The Cherokee Trail provided a more efficient route for gold seekers or other lightly-burdened travelers who were able to travel more quickly and required less water and forage than wagon trains. Directions: The Historical Marker is in the CDOT Virginia Dale Rest Area on the west side of US Highway 287 just south of the Colorado/Wyoming border. Book on Wagon Road or Trial: Not listed Website Explination: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   09/04/2018 Casper&Aero visited it 07/10/2006 Markerman62 visited it

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