Trail of Hope

The Trail of Hope is the same path that many Latter-day Saints took when they left Nauvoo and began their journey west. The trail showcases the faith of ordinary people who faithfully followed the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to a new life in the valley of the Great Salt Lake (present-day Utah in the United States).

On February 4, 1846, the first wagons left Nauvoo, traveling to the banks of the Mississippi River along Parley Street, where a ferry could take them across the river into Iowa Territory. The Saints continued to depart Nauvoo along this same trail through September of that year.

Over 14,000 Latter-day Saints left Nauvoo during those eight months. They were headed into the unknown and had to trust their leaders’ guidance. Many recorded their experiences of leaving Nauvoo in their journals, and others continued to reflect on their departure years later. In a sermon given in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 21, 1867, Apostle George Q. Cannon declared, “It required a great amount of faith on the part of the people, to venture into an unexplored and desert country to attempt again to build up homes, and to perform the labors enjoined upon us by God, our Heavenly Father.”

Read about the beginning of the departure from Nauvoo in Saints, Volume 1, Chapter 46.

What to Expect

The Trail of Hope is a self-guided Pioneer Trail experience. You are welcome to walk the path and read the interpretive signs. If you follow the Trail of Hope, you will end up at the Mississippi River, as well as the Pioneer Memorial and Exodus to Greatness.

During the summer months, actors help bring pioneer voices from the past to life in an evening performance along the Trail of Hope.