Starting at the crossing of the Snake River, you will follow the route of the pioneers as they crossed the Idaho desert in a covered wagon pulled by weary oxen. Travelers can walk in the ruts created by thousands of emigrants in search of new homes in Oregon and visit the historic sites of the emigrant diaries. Much of this route appears today as it did when the emigrants traveled this route. The main Oregon Trail from Three Island Crossing of the Snake River to the Boise River was the primary route utilized by the emigrants for the first 10 years of the Trail. Thousands of pioneers struggled across the dusty sagebrush-covered plains of Idaho with their possessions in a covered wagon. Freight and stage roads utilized much of the Oregon Trail as they developed. Travelers and freighters continued to use the route long after the building of the railroads across southern Idaho, even into the early 1900’s. The Idaho desert proved to be some of the most dangerous and difficult travel the pioneers endured on their long journey.