10 trails cross the Midwest region, including 8 National Historic Trails linking multiple sites, plus the Ice Age and North Country National Scenic Trails which are individual park units. Only the Ice Age NST is unique to the Midwest, while the other trails continue on into other regions. Here’s a quick summary in case you are interested in exploring the trails in the region.

• Ice Age NST formed when 100,000 year old ice melted 11,000 years ago, lovely winding trails over hills and dells in Wisconsin.
• Santa Fe NHT used from prehistory to present by natives, Spanish, cavalry, settlers, BNSF, Route 66 and now I-55, 44, 40, 15 and 10. I like the Mahaffie stop in Kansas above.
  • “Well it winds from Chicago to L.A,
    More than 2000 miles all the way”—Bobby Troup
• Lewis & Clark NHT 1804-1806, Seaman joined Lewis in Ohio, Clark & York joined in Indiana, they entered the Purchase from Illinois, see replicas at the boat museum in Missouri, a Kanza earth-lodge in Kansas, many sites along the Missouri River in Nebraska, and memorials of the only expedition fatality, Sgt. Floyd, in Iowa.
• Trail of Tears NHT ~1830 to ~1850, part passed through southern Illinois and Missouri, where the Trail of Tears State Park overlooks the Mississippi.
• The Pioneer Trails, Independence Missouri has a Frontier Trails Museum, Scotts Bluff and Chimney Rock in Nebraska are scenic.
  • Oregon NHT 1836-1869, from western Missouri, through Kansas & Nebraska.
  • California NHT 1841 to 1869, same midwestern route as above.
  • Mormon Pioneer NHT 1846-1847, from western Illinois, through Iowa & Nebraska.
• Stage & Mail Trails, follow the link for some recommended stops.
  • Butterfield Overland NHT 1857-1861, only a small portion is in Missouri.
  • Pony Express NHT 1860-1861, follows the pioneer trails through Kansas & Nebraska.
• North Country NST, established in 1980 and designated a unit in 2023, is still a bit disjointed, but in the region, it runs from Fort Miamis in Ohio, up through Michigan, along the cliffs through Pictured Rocks NL below, across Wisconsin, and from Grand Portage NM through Minnesota.