Join us for a remarkable tour starting at Winter Quarters and ending in Salt Lake City. Fly to Omaha where our deluxe, air-conditioned bus will take you in comfort to important pioneer history sites following the Mormon Pioneer Trail route from Winter Quarters through Nebraska and Wyoming to Salt Lake City!
This tour is created by and hosted by a team of veteran tour guides and expert historians who will weave stories from the journals of those who took this journey on foot and by wagon as they dreamed of building Zion and living in peace in the Rocky Mountains. These humbling tales of miracles and blessings by far surpass the heartbreaks of this arduous journey–you’ll be amazed at and inspired by the sacrifices and great faith of our pioneer ancestors. This amazing heritage belongs to EVERY member of the Church!
SUMMARY OF SITES:
Day 1
We gather in Omaha/Council Bluffs for comfy lodging.
Day 2
Begin our “bus trek” with visits to Florence Mill, Mormon Bridge, the Council House, and Brigham Young’s home location as well at Cutler’s Park–the first settlement in the area. Then on to Winter Quarters Trail Center and Pioneer Cemetery – outstanding starting point! Learn more of how the pioneers camped here in sod huts, dugoug caves, and crude cabins that awful winter of 1846-47 before embarking for the Salt Lake Valley. One of the best visitors centers in the Church with the perfect film to set the scene for our journey. Cemetery with 600 unmarked pioneer graves, sculptures, etc. See the beautiful Winter Quarters Temple grounds, adjacent to the cemetery. Kanesville where Brigham Young was sustained as the second prophet and president of the Church by over 1,000 pioneer men and women assembled for this singular event. Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards were sustained as his counselors. We begin our tales here of the Mormon Battalion as they were recruited from this area. This is also where Oliver Cowdery asked to be re-baptized–his baptism took place in a creek, nearby. Enjoy walking through Omaha’s incredible Spirit of Nebraska Wilderness statues and Pioneer Courage Park–filled with life-size+ pioneer trail statues–incredible work by 2 men from Utah. View the expansive area from high atop the Lewis & Clark Highway overlook monument and park – great near-bird’s-eye perspective of this unique land and its importance in the history of settling the American West!
Day 3
Cross Mormon Bridge to drive to Elkhorn Crossing which was the staging area for those ready to begin their journey to the West. We’ll cross Nebraska following the Platte River while discussing many events the pioneers endured including stories of daily life, the Vanguard company and the handcart companies, among the others. Stroll through the illustrative Great Platte River Road Archway Museum (which surprisingly straddles over I-80!) to experience exhibits and tributes to the nearly half a million people who rode and walked the mid-1800s trails through this region. This remarkable exhibit pays tribute to the enduring spirit of all kinds of pioneers who braved the expansive crossing to the settle the West.
Day 4
Today we travel to Wyoming stopping at crucial sites in the high mountains such as Chimney Rock, Scottsbluff, Fort Laramie, Guernsey Ruts, and Reshaw’s Bridge–and more–as we discover at each of these sites their importance of a landmark or tales of crucial events along the trail. Visit one of the few remaining marked Pioneer grave sites: Rebecca Burdick Winters; her name was inscribed on an old iron wagon tire and left as her memorial. At Guernsey Ruts, we will see where the thousands of iron-shod hooves and wagon wheels gradually cut a vertical-walled channel deep into the sandstone ridges–probably the best-preserved wagon ruts on the entire trail.
Day 5
See very well-done displays and exhibits at Casper’s National Historic Trails Interpretive Center. We continue our journey through Wyoming stopping at several notable sites such as Bessemer Bend, Independence Rock, Devil’s Gate, Martin’s Cove and Sixth Crossing. Independence Rock is a building-sized prominent granite rock beside the trail. Westward travelers wanted to be as far as this point by Independence Day, July 4, in order to avoid early snowfalls in the high mountains and plains which lay ahead. Martin’s Cove is now owned by the Church of Jesus Christ and is staffed by missionaries. We will enjoy a blacksmith demonstration, a restored cabin, fort, and museum. To get a taste of walking these paths, we will hike the few-mile trek to participate in special presentations re-counting the great rescue of the Martin and Willie handcart companies stopped by devastating, early snows in 1856 suffering terribly from starvation, exhaustion, and exposure. Many of Martin Company died and were buried here. We’ll cross and discuss the many trail crossings of the Sweetwater River which caused these weary travelers to endure so much, including the handcart company’s rescuers who demonstrated great courage and sacrifice while greatly suffering in the cold unselfishly carrying these stranded pioneers across the water putting the needs of others over their own. See the view from Split Rock where Ephraim Hanks saw/found the stranded Martin company. Tour the wonderful new Sixth Crossing visitor’s center to learn about the trials faced here by the Willie Company.
Day 6
We cross the Continental Divide today while visiting and exploring additional majestic and meaningful Wyoming sites: Rock Creek Hollow, Rocky Ridge, South Pass, and the restored Fort Bridger Historic Site with its many period buildings, shops, and monuments. Enjoy a special local guest speaker at Rock Creek Hollow speak of the inspired “second rescue,” meaning the research to provide temple work for many pioneers who died along the trail. This second rescue begain around 1997 with President Hinckley’s call for Sesquicentennial celebrations and commemorations.
Day 7
Start the day with a journey through Echo Canyon and Henefer as we wend our way to the Salt Lake Valley – and find ourselves faced with the ominous, aptly-named Big Mountain. We’ll traverse this mountain pass to the top of Emigration Canyon to see our first glimpse of the Salt Lake Valley before descending the canyon to This Is the Place State Park and the monument marking Brigham Young’s famous words marking the end of the journey. Tour the new statues & memorials here that were placed at this site in 2020; enjoy some time to view the park’s historic pioneer homes, pioneer shops, & exhibits. We’ll look across the valley to Ensign Peak, which Brigham did as he recognized this scene from a vision he had received showing him where to take the Saints. Visit the First Encampment Park & Pioneer Park, sites of many later travelers’ frist overnights upon arrival in the valley. We complete our day with a delicious banquet. After dinner, locals may choose to either stay overnight with the group or at their own home (discount offered if our lodging not needed).
Day 8
Enjoy our last day together rejoicing together at historic sites in SLC where perhaps familiar sites take on deeper meanings when experienced at the culmination of your epic Trek to Zion! We plan to attend “Music & the Spoken Word” live broadcast by the Tabernacle Choir then explore little-known gems around Temple Square and the surrounding area. Stop at Brigham Young’s grave and graves of other notable, early Saints to pay tribute to these remarkable people. Standing at Ensign Peak, overlooking the vast Salt Lake valley, we’ll re-count the experiences had by Brigham and seven others as they surveyed the valley and laid out in their minds the city as they intended to build it. A farewell lunch will cap off the tour and the tour finishes with with a late afternoon drop-off at the SLC airport for flights home OR to pick up your car/meet your ride home – you’ll return home with a renewed understanding and determination to honor these early Saints in all you do!
This is a RARE OPPORTUNITY – IT IS YOUR TURN to experience these sites and the tales of remarkable pioneers who exhibited great faith in every footstep. See the vast plains and immense Rocky Mountains they traversed. Feel their emotions as we share their stories of courage, faith, sorrow, and joy. Understand more than you did before about the many miracles and blessings they experienced as they followed their hearts and their prophet to safety in the west.