You can drive to many sites and sections associated with the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, but the entire historic route is not one continuous modern road. The trail runs from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Salt Lake Valley. Winter Quarters and the Iowa camps are locations along that migration. If you mean the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area in Utah, that area is designed to be explored by road.
How to drive the Heritage Area
The Heritage Area drive follows U.S. Highway 89, All-American Road State Route 12, and Scenic Byway State Route 24 through the towns Mormon pioneers settled in central and southern Utah. The Heritage Area spans roughly 250 miles from Fairview to the Arizona border. Including the Highway 12 and 24 loops, the full drivable network is about 400 miles. Start with the Travel Planner map and printed guide. Suggested routes are on Tours, including the Highway 89 road trip.
What is the difference between the Mormon Trail and the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area?
The historic trail marks the 1846–1847 overland route from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Salt Lake Valley. You can visit some preserved segments and interpretive sites. The entire historic trail cannot be followed as a single continuous modern road. For official maps and auto-tour information, use the National Park Service Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail page. It is separate from the Heritage Area’s Highway 89 driving route. The Heritage Area drive is a modern visit through Utah settlement country. More on the historic route is on Mormon Pioneer Trail. Discovery Road filmed one family story on that historic route in The Mormon Trail – Black Experience.
Why did they come west?
Those who fled Nauvoo in 1846 were religious refugees, not only people looking for land.
The pioneer trail of Latter-day Saints follows a similar route to others crossing North America in search of fertile soil and gold in California. But those who fled Nauvoo in 1846 were not just seeking land. They were religious refugees determined to stay on a covenant path.
That line is on the Church’s Pioneer Trail page. For the broader migration, read Mormon pioneers or The Mormon Colonization. Visit questions are on the FAQ.