Oregon Trail Historic Byway
Oregon Trail Historic Byway is a State Scenic Byway in Wyoming. Within Wyoming it covers roughly 55 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Oregon Trail Historic Byway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Wyoming's Oregon Trail Historic Byway follows US Highway 26 for 57 miles from the Nebraska state line to Dwyer Junction. The route passes through Torrington, Lingle, Fort Laramie, and Guernsey, running along the North Platte River valley, the same corridor followed by the Oregon, California, and Mormon Pioneer Trails as hundreds of thousands of emigrants moved west in the mid-1800s. Fort Laramie, founded in 1834 as a small fur-trading post, grew into a major waypoint for gold seekers, a Pony Express and Overland Stage station, and later a US Army post during the Plains Indian Wars; it's preserved today as Fort Laramie National Historic Site. Nearby, the 1875 Iron Bridge across the North Platte is the oldest surviving military bridge west of the Mississippi River, and Register Cliff still bears the carved names of emigrants who passed through. In several spots along the byway, wagon ruts cut deep into rock and soil remain visible, physical traces of the thousands of wagons that once followed this same valley toward Utah, Idaho, California, and Oregon.
- Fort Laramie National Historic Site
- North Platte River
- 57 miles
- Register Cliff
- Iron Bridge 1875
- Oregon/California/Mormon Trails
- visible wagon ruts
Plan a drive on Oregon Trail Historic Byway →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along Oregon Trail Historic Byway
No campgrounds are listed close to Oregon Trail Historic Byway yet, but there are rooms near the route.
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