For a first-hand feel of emigrant travel, climb aboard the wagon at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Casper. Bump along in an ox-drawn wagon as you ford the North Platte River at its last crossing. Also visit Fort Caspar to see a replica of a ferry used by emigrants to cross the river before the first bridge in this area was constructed.

From Casper take Wyoming Highway 220 west in an hour-long drive to Independence Rock (the most noted landmark on the Oregon Trail) and then visit the nearby Handcart Visitor Center at Devils Gate, where you can push and pull an actual Mormon handcart.

To continue following the trail west to Fort Bridger, travel north on U.S. 287, west on Wyoming Highway 28, south on Wyoming Highway 372, and then west on Interstate 80. It will take you about five hours to drive from Independence Rock to Fort Bridger without stops, but you can break the trip up with an overnight stay along the way.

Fort Bridger, an important trail supply point built “in the road of the emigrants” in 1843, was operated by mountain man Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez and later became a U.S. Army post. Today you can stock up on 19th-century goods at the recreated Fort Bridger Stockade and explore the military-era buildings.