Travelling around the US often conjures up dreams of the past and some of the extraordinary hardships and difficulties experienced by the hardy early pioneers. These intrepid adventurers were exploring unmapped territory and had little idea what they could encounter, unlike modern travellers who can rely on the internet, comfortable hostels and countless guidebooks.
3 Pioneer-Inspired American Road Trips
Iconic
Possibly the most famous of these explorers include the renowned couple, Lewis and Clark. Those who wish to travel in their footsteps won’t have to select a Corps of Discovery or even source sufficient mules and horses for their journey, all they should do is investigate the best car hire in the USA and make sure that the vehicle they choose will be up to a long and fascinating journey.
East to West
The 1804-1806 journey took Lewis and Clark right across the breadth of the US and using their original route as a guide, starting at Wood River on the Mississippi River; you’ll eventually find yourself following the Missouri River and the Columbia River ending up at Fort Clatsop on the Pacific Coast. Congress, in conjunction with the National Parks Service has very thoughtfully issued a map so that you can actually travel the same route as the explorers did over two centuries ago.
This journey will take you right across the states of Missouri, Kansas and Oregon and as well as 8 others. You’ll have the opportunity to see the soft rock where William Clark carved his name at Pompey’s Pillar in Billings, Montana, possibly qualifying him as Montana’s first graffiti artist.
Trade and Travel
Anyone who is a devotee of early Westerns will be familiar with the Santa Fe Trail. The journey starts in Franklin Missouri and ends in Santa Fe New Mexico. Covered wagons were the order of the day back in the 1820s and you can still see the original ruts from their wheels near Dodge City in Kansas.
The forests and wonderful natural sights in the Comanche grasslands in Colorado are well worth a visit and you can even hire a cabin to spend further time here. Once you reach New Mexico try to take the opportunity to explore Santa Fe itself, it claims to be the ‘oldest capital in the US’ so there is plenty to see and do.
Idyllic Dreams
The Shakers, otherwise known as the Shaking Quakers, crossed the Atlantic from the UK in 1774 and founded a set of astonishing communities from Maine right the way down to Kentucky. If you start your journey at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in Maine you can then plan to travel from site to site eventually reaching the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, Kentucky.
The Tyringham Shaker Settlement in Massachusetts was abandoned in 1874 but some of their magnificent buildings still remain. The craftsmanship of these buildings and their beautiful wooden furniture is a true testament to a community that lived their simple lives through self-sufficiency and hard work. Sadly their commitment to celibacy became their downfall and there are fewer than 12 Shakers in the US today.
Article by travel writer and adventurer Celina Bledowska.