California Trail Interpretive Center
Fall 2024
Elko museum preserves the legacy of the famous emigrant route.
Built and operated by the Bureau of Land Management, the California Trail Interpretive Center presents the history of the more than 200,000 pioneers who passed through Nevada on their way to California. Through immersive exhibits, visitors explore the triumphs and tragedies experienced by those who embarked on the 2,000-mile journey. The center also presents a unique perspective on the historic corridor by exploring how the great migration forever changed the West’s original inhabitants.
Upon arrival, explore the grounds outside first. The plaza is packed with exhibits and mural-size quotes from trail travelers. Look down and you’ll find yourself wandering a scale-model map of the Trail—about 10 miles a step.
Nearby, you’ll spot faithful recreations of both Western Shoshone and pioneer camp sites complete with sagebrush huts and covered wagons. From here, take a gravel path up a gentle hillside to enjoy a 0.3-mile loop walk.
If you’d like to stretch your legs a bit more, a 0.8-mile, out-and-back trail offers impressive views of the Humboldt River. Emigrants followed this winding waterway—the longest entirely within Nevada—for nearly 300 miles. From this vista, you can also see the conspicuous South Fork Canyon, which the Donner Party passed through in 1846 when rushing to reach the Sierra Nevada before the first frost.
The California Trail Interpretive Center ranks as one of the best museums in the state. Not only are the exhibits—which range from life-size dioramas to interactive displays—top quality and fascinating, the museum’s layout is an inspired bit of design that lets visitors discover the trail’s history in geographic order.
Your visit starts in a Missouri river town, where pioneers stocked up on provisions and kitted out their covered wagons. These communites, which sat on the then-eastern edge of American civilization, were the first stop for emigrants. The (literal) elephant in this exhibit’s room pays homage to the era’s famous expression, “I saw the elephant,” which meant that someone had gone west, seen the sights, and returned home.
In subsequent rooms, you’ll follow the Platte River in the Great Plains, trek across the Salt Lake Desert, and survive the endless Great Basin before entering the most perilous stretch of the journey: the infamous 40-Mile Desert— today located between Lovelock and Reno. After crossing the Sierra Nevada, your journey ends in Gold Country, where relieved pioneers began their new lives.
While at the center, stop in the theater to enjoy a short film featuring the era’s most famous emigrants: the Donner Party. Also, be sure to visit the great gift shop, which offers a variety of books, children’s gifts, apparel, art, candy, a Nevada-specific library, and other miscellaneous goodies.
The California Trail Interpretive Center hosts programs throughout the year, which include crafting workshops, summer camps, and presentations on the desert’s wildlife, flora, and dark skies. Its largest event—held in early June—is California Trail Days. This family-friendly affair allows you to experience life in a wagon camp. You’ll cook over an open fire, tend livestock, ride in a bumpy wagon, weave on a loom, and enjoy many other era-specific activities.
