Pioneer Historic Byway
Pioneer Historic Byway is a National Scenic Byway in Idaho. Within Idaho it covers roughly 110 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Pioneer Historic Byway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
The Pioneer Historic Byway runs 127 miles through Idaho's southeast corner, starting in Franklin, the oldest continuously settled town in Idaho, founded by Mormon pioneers in 1860. It follows US 91 and Idaho 34 north along stretches of the historic Oregon Trail to the Wyoming border. The route carries three overlapping layers of history: Native American, Mormon pioneer, and Oregon Trail emigrant. Just north of Preston, a National Historic Landmark memorial marks the site of the 1863 Bear River Massacre, in which the U.S. Army attacked a Shoshone encampment. Farther along, the byway passes Chesterfield, an abandoned Mormon settlement now preserved as a ghost town, Red Rock Pass, and the Niter Ice Cave near Soda Springs. Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge, along the route, hosts the largest concentration of nesting sandhill cranes anywhere in the world each April, drawing birders to a byway otherwise dominated by 19th-century history.
- 127 miles, Franklin to the Wyoming border
- Franklin, Idaho's oldest settled town (1860)
- Bear River Massacre National Historic Landmark
- Chesterfield Mormon ghost town
- Grays Lake NWR sandhill crane nesting grounds
- Oregon Trail emigrant history
Plan a drive on Pioneer Historic Byway →
What is a National Scenic Byway?
National Scenic Byways are roads recognized at the federal level for at least one outstanding quality — scenic, natural, historic, cultural, archaeological or recreational — that gives travelers a reason to seek them out rather than just pass through.
Where to Stay along Pioneer Historic Byway
2 campgrounds and RV parks sit within about 5 miles of Pioneer Historic Byway.
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