Lewis and Clark's journey began in Illinois, and Camp Dubois is the national historic site recognized there. The captains recruited team members while in Illinois, conducted research and planned their journey from this military camp.
Missouri contains six national historic sites along the Lewis and Clark trail. The Museum of Westward Expansion is the home of some of the rarest artifacts from the Lewis and Clark exhibition. Fort Osage was built by the Corps to protect the Louisiana Purchase. It became the first outpost for settlers to begin moving westward. Kansas is home to the Frontier Army Museum, another national historic site along the Lewis and Clark Trail. The museum is located at Fort Leavenworth.
Fives sites along the historic trail of the Lewis and Clark expedition have been certified nationally in Iowa and six so in Nebraska. The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Iowa is an interactive, sensory experience of the historic trail. The Garden of Discovery there includes plants collected and encountered by the explorers and the Center coordinates river tours of the original expedition. Nebraska's Missouri River Basin Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center also displays the actual flora and fauna discoveries made by the Corps of Discovery and offers re-enactments of the boatmen and soldier's daily lives.
Ten sites have been nationally certified as historic trail sites along the path Lewis and Clark took through North and South Dakota. The Lewis and Clark Lake Visitor Center in South Dakota offers breathtaking views of the Missouri River Valley and interactive exhibits of the expedition. The North Dakota Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center at Fort Mandan depicts the explorer's winter stay in 1804 and the development of the area as trading post and diplomatic center for early settlers and Native American tribes there.
Montana has 11 nationally recognized historic sites along the Lewis and Clark Trail while Idaho is home to four. You can relive the entire Lewis and Clark journey through dioramas, videos and tours at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center in Montana and hike along a trail to the Giant Springs State Park, another certified historic site in the state. The Sacajawea Interpretive, Cultural and Educational Center in Idaho focuses on Sacajawea's role in the expedition and offers an outdoor program in primitive living, community gardens, an amphitheater and even a dog walk dedicated to Captain Lewis' Newfoundland, named Seaman.
The National Park Service has recognized seven sites along Lewis and Clark's historic trail in Washington and five in Oregon. Visitors can learn more about the Nez Perce Indian tribe and the Yakama nation that Lewis and Clark encountered at the Alpowai Interpretive Center and the Yakama Nation Cultural Heritage Center in Washington. The Lewis and Clark National Historical Park stretches across both Oregon and Washington. The Fort to Sea Trail in Oregon forges through forest, fields and beach dunes that the Discovery Corps covered. It starts at Fort Clatsop and ends at Sunset Beach.
