US Migration Trails and Roads
United States 
Migration Trails and Roads
| Name | Date Opened | Usual Origin | Usual Destination |
| Great Indian Warpath (Seneca Trail) | pre-historic | Mobile, Alabama | Roanoke, Virginia and New York |
| Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (Chihuahua Trail) | 1598 | Mexico City, Mexico | Santa Fe, New Mexico |
| King's Highway (Boston Post Road) | 1650/1735 | Boston, Massachusetts | Charleston, South Carolina |
| Albany Post Road | 1669 | New York City, New York | Albany, New York |
| Camino Real de California | 1683 | San Bruno, Mexico | Sonoma, California |
| Camino Real de los Tejas (Old San Antonio Road) | 1690s | Guerrero, Mexico | Natchitoches, Louisiana |
| Fall Line Road | 1735 | Fredericksburg, Virginia | Augusta, Georgia |
| Natchez Trace | before 1742/ 1796/1801 | Natchez, Mississippi | Nashville, Tennessee (1796 Maysville,Kentucky) |
| Unicoi Trail (Unicoi Turnpike) | pre-Colonial, setters 1795 | Charleston, South Carolina | Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Catawba Trail | Saluda Gap, South Carolina | Knoxville, Tennessee | |
| Great Valley Road | 1744 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Augusta, Georgia |
| Upper Road | 1750s | Fredericksburg, Virginia | Greenville, South Carolina |
| Braddock's Road | 1755 | Fort Cumberland, Maryland | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Forbes Road | 1759 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Wilderness Road | 1775 | Bristol, Virginia | Boonesborough/Louisville, Kentucky |
| Avery's Trace (Nashville Road) | 1787 | Knoxville, Tennessee | French Lick (Nashville), Tennessee |
| Zane's Trace | 1796 | Wheeling, (West) Virginia | Maysville, Kentucky |
| Maysville Turnpike | 1796 | Nashville, Tennessee | Maysville, Kentucky |
| Federal Horse Path | 1805 | Milledgeville, Georgia | Mobile, Alabama |
| Georgia Road or Federal Road | 1805/1819 | Savannah/Athens, Georgia | Knoxville, TN, or Nashville, TN, or Huntsville, AL |
| Jackson's Military Road | 1814/1816 | Nashville (Columbia), Tennessee | New Orleans (Madisonville), Louisiana |
| National Road (Cumberland Road) | 1818/1839 | Cumberland, Maryland (later Baltimore) | Vandalia, Illinois (later Jefferson City, Missouri) |
| Santa Fe Trail | 1821 | Franklin, Missouri | Santa Fe, New Mexico |
| Old Spanish Trail | 1830 | Santa Fe, New Mexico | Los Angeles, California |
| Oregon Trail | 1841 | Independence, Missouri | Oregon City, Oregon |
| California Trail | 1841 | Independence, Missouri | Sacramento, California |
| Mormon Trail | 1846/1847 | Nauvoo, Illinois | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Mormon Trail to Southern California | 1848 | Salt Lake City, Utah | Los Angeles, California |
| Butterfield Overland Mail | 1857 | Memphis, Tennessee, or St. Louis, Missouri | San Francisco, California |
| Central Overland Trail | 1859 | Salt Lake City, Utah | Carson City, Nevada |
| Bozeman Trail | 1863 | Fort Laramie, Wyoming | Virginia City, Montana |
Internet Sites[edit | edit source]
There were several major migration trails across the United States, and many shorter state or regional paths of migration. Some of the better-known trails our ancestors may have followed are:
- Chisholm Trail Texas cattle drive to Kansas railheads
- Mormon Trail Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah pioneer trail
- Old Spanish Trail Santa Fe, New Mexico to Los Angeles, California trade route
- Oregon/California Trail Missouri to Oregon or California pioneer trail
- Overland Trail Atchison, Kansas stagecoach route to Salt Lake City, Utah
- Santa Fe Trail Franklin, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico trade and pioneer route