Travelers’ Rest State Park
A nature trail to the historic Lewis and Clark campsite
Travelers’ Rest is a historic site featuring a visitor center and nature trail to the only archaeologically verified campsite of Lewis and Clark's famous expedition.
Features: A visitor center and museum, a nature trail to the historic site, outdoor classroom, picnic tables, interpretive signs, creek access, a few benches, and volunteers who share their knowledge of the site.
Accessibility info and site description: There are two van-accessible parking spaces in front of the visitor center entrance, and another two van-accessible parking spaces in front of the trail entrance by the public accessible restrooms. There are several picnic tables in a large grassy area about 200 feet from the trail entrance parking. The nature trail is 3 to 4 feet wide, graveled, and can be quite rough and uneven in some areas. Follow the trail into the woods, where you’ll find the North Nature trail (a narrow dirt trail with creek access), a teepee, and an outdoor classroom, or continue on the main trail over the bridge. There's a 2-3 inch lip from the gravel path up to the bridge on both sides, and a very steep hill on the far side of the bridge. According to my phone camera’s level indicator, this hill is at a 7 to 13 degree slope. After the bridge, the trail splits. Take the trail to the right for the shorter route to the historic campsite. The hearth site is marked with a large sign and a bench. Continuing on the trail, there’s another fork in the road: the trail to the right goes up a hill to an overlook with a bench, some old buildings, and a gazebo with picnic tables. Or, skip the hill and stay on the loop to the left. A small sign close to the ground marks the meadow where the members of the expedition would have slept, and farther down to the right will be the latrine site, marked with another large sign. The loop will take you back to the creek, another creek access trail, bench, and interpretive sign, then back to the steep hill before the bridge. Total distance of the trail from the parking lot, around the loop, and back is between .5 to .75 mile.
My experience: This is a really cool historical site and I enjoyed both of my visits here. If you can, I recommend checking out the visitor center and museum. Outside on the trail, there are volunteers who are happy to share their knowledge about the site, but are also respectful of your space if you aren't interested in chatting. The trail could definitely use some maintenance as it can be very rough in some areas. I doubt the steep section on the far side of the bridge is ADA accessible, plus the several inch lip between the graveled path and the bridge makes this trail less wheelchair friendly than I had expected. Also, a note to those with MCS: there were some pretty overwhelming smells while I was on the far side of the loop (like burnt hair and gasoline). I'm unsure if this was a temporary issue from somebody burning something nearby or if this is how it always smells, but I wanted to mention it just in case.
Overall, Travelers’ Rest is a really interesting historic site. It could use some trail maintenance and a more accessible transition on and off the bridge, but it's a great educational opportunity and engaging trail through nature and history.
For more information, visit https://travelersrest.org
