The Pioneers’ Northwest
Ride with us as we go down the Big Hill, up the mighty Snake, along the Oregon Trail, and deep into history. Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada are yours for the taking.

By Candy Moulton

From Hell’s Canyon, the Grand Coulee, and the Snake River Plain to the Diamond Valley, Ruby Mountains, and Valley of Fire, the Great American Northwest beckons with adventures truly describable as big, bold, and beautiful. You can gaze upon landscapes so unique and diverse they could be only in the West.

The Snake and Columbia Rivers define much of the settlement of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, in direct contrast to the arid lands of Nevada where pioneer emigrants struggled beyond the Humboldt Sink and across the 40-Mile Desert. Marvel at the eons-old Columbia River Gorge and revel in the beauty of red-rock formations covered with petroglyphs made by people who called Nevada home centuries ago.

These states have expansive open spaces, verdant forests, and haunting desert lands plus plenty of surprises, friendly people, trails, ranches, and rodeos to fill your days.

Idaho
When westbound pioneers traveled the Oregon and California Trail they entered into what is now Idaho by going up and over the Bear River Divide, carefully driving their wagons down a steep incline they called Big Hill and camping on the western slope of that mountain.

Theodore Talbot wrote on September 7, 1843: “We went a few miles farther when we had to cross a very high hill, which is said to be the greatest impediment on the whole route from the United States to Fort Hall. The ascent is very long and tedious, but the descent is still more abrupt and difficult.”

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