In May 1804, the Corps of Discovery pushed off from Camp Dubois, Illinois, and started upriver into land the young United States had barely seen. Twenty-eight months and roughly 8,000 miles later, they were back in St. Louis. It's one of the longest journeys anyone has ever tried to put on a single map — so we did.
We rebuilt the entire route on ExploreMap, stop by stop: the winter at Fort Mandan, the portage around the Great Falls, Sacagawea reuniting with her brother's band at Camp Fortunate, the brutal crossing of the Bitterroots, the first sight of the Pacific at Cape Disappointment, and the return trip that split the party in two before reuniting near the Yellowstone confluence.
Every waypoint carries its own date and note, the same way a real trip does in ExploreMap — except this one spans 1804 to 1806 instead of a long weekend. That's really the point of the exercise: a map that can hold a two-year, cross-continental expedition should have no trouble holding your next road trip or backpacking loop.
You can explore the full route, in order, here: Lewis and Clark Expedition .
Want to map your own trip — whether it's this weekend or a lifetime in the making? Start free on ExploreMap.