The Old Spanish Trail 1829-1850

Trails rarely die; they change names. When the pack-mule era of the Old Spanish Trail ended around 1850, the route did not vanish—it was widened for wagons and became the Mormon Road between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, the Mormon Battalion having driven the first wagon over it in 1848. In the next century the same corridor became the Arrowhead Trail, then U.S. Highway 91, and finally Interstate 15. The path that Antonio Armijo's mules broke across southern Nevada in 1830 is, in essence, the road millions still drive between Las Vegas and the Utah line.

What the plaque says

Stretching for 130 miles across Clark County, this historic horse trail became Nevada’s first route of commerce in 1829 when trade was initiated between Santa Fe and Los Angeles. The trail was later used by the wagons of the “49ers” and by Mormon pioneers. Concrete posts marking the trail were erected in 1965.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Spring Mountain Ranch State Park — 3.2 mi
  A spring-fed green oasis under the red Wilson Cliffs — and a roll call of colorful owners
• Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area — 6.2 mi
  The Mojave wilderness that begins where Las Vegas ends — striped sandstone cliffs and a 13-mile scenic loop
• Las Vegas Strip — 14 mi
  Four and a quarter miles of engineered spectacle — the most famous street in America (and it isn't in Las Vegas)
• Fremont Street — 17 mi
  Glitter Gulch — the neon canyon where Las Vegas actually began

More markers nearby

• Old Spanish Trail (Mountain Springs Pass) — 4.1 mi
• Potosí — 5.4 mi
• The Old Spanish Trail 1829-1850 — 5.9 mi
• Las Vegas (The Meadows) — 15 mi