Almost 200 years ago, fur traders and settlers traversed the Front Range along Cherokee Trail. Now, steps are being taken to allow people to walk along some of the same route.
Representatives from the National Park Service held a public meeting in Denver on Monday night to look into the possibility of making Cherokee Trail a historic trail.
“The Cherokee Trail was an important connector of two very significant trails, and it deserves the same recognition as the two other trails have,” said Camille Bradford, president of the Colorado-Cherokee Trail chapter of the Oregon-California Trails Association. “It’s a historically significant trail that our organization has endorsed for over 10 years.”
The 1,500-mile Cherokee Trail runs from Oklahoma up through Wyoming and connects the Santa Fe, Oregon and California trails. It was first used as a trade route in the 1830s and derived its name when members of the Cherokee nation used the trail to get from Oklahoma to the gold fields outside of Denver.
It served as a major transportation route for gold seekers during the Colorado gold rush in the late 1850s.
“The trail is such a big part of Colorado history,” said Lee Whiteley, author of “The Cherokee Trail: From Bent’s Old Fort to Fort Bridger.” “It’s the transportation history of eastern Colorado all the way from the fur trappers in the 1830s to homesteaders in the 1860s.”
Monday’s meeting was one of a series across the Western U.S. that are part of a feasibility study for the National Historic Trails. The study will look at the possibility of adding 64 more routes to existing historic trails. The study was authorized by the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009.
Once the National Parks Service finishes the study, it will submit a recommendation to Congress in the summer of 2013. Among the things that the study will look for is public interest in the trail as well as opportunities for public recreational use.
Once a trail becomes part of the National Historic Trails, volunteers can mark points of interest in public areas and in private areas where landowners give the OK.
“Being designated a historic trail leads to a higher level of awareness about an aspect of American history,” said Aaron Mahr, the superintendent of the California, Oregon, Mormon Pioneer and Pony Express trails.
“Then we can work with federal programs to preserve and protect these trails from disappearing over time.”
Several people at the meeting brought up the economic impact that heritage tourism could bring to towns along the trail if it were designated. But Mahr said people might want to temper their expectations.
“In my experience with trails, the economic impact is usually very limited,” Mahr said. “There might be a modest influx in the use of trail resources and some increase in tourism, but generally the impact is minimal.”
Mitchell Byars: 303-954-1698 or mbyars@denverpost.com
