Big Mountain

Rockin' P Stables leads riders on historic Big Mountain in East Canyon. This mountain was central in the migration of the early pioneers to Utah and California from 1846 until the railroad was completed in 1869. We ride near, but not on the historic trails in the area.

Hastings Cutoff

Lansford Hasting convinced the Donner-Reed Party, a group of westward pioneers, to take a new route to California and shave off 2-3 weeks. The location the pioneers left the Oregon trail and headed to Big Mountain is known as the Hastings Cutoff.

The Donner-Reed Party

In 1846, the Donner-Reed Party cut their new trail up Big Mountain without being guided by anyone who had ever been there before. With great effort and much time, they reached the summit, now known as Big Mountain or Donner-Reed Pass. They came down the south side of the mountain and headed to what is now Parleys Canyon. It was impassible so they back tracked and headed down Emigration Canyon to the Salt Lake Valley. This new route delayed them greatly and lead to disaster later in the Sierra Nevada mountains. For more information, click here.

The Mormon Pioneer Trail

From 1847-1969, more than 70,000 Mormon pioneers traveled along the Oregon trail and followed the Donner-Reed Party up over Big Mountain and down into the Salt Lake Valley. They only had to cut 1 mile of road along the way. They traveled on foot, horseback, in wagons, and pulled hand carts.

The Pony Express Trail

From 1860-1861, the famous Pony Express riders carried mail 1840 miles traveling through this same area and up over Big Mountain pass. According to the National Park Service web site www.nps.gov/poex,

The Pony Express NHT was used by young men on fast horses to carry the nation's mail from Missouri to California in the unprecedented time of only ten days. The relay system became the nation's most direct and practical means of east-west communications before the telegraph, and it played a vital role in aligning California with the Union in the years just before the Civil War.

The Great Western Trail

The Great Western Trail was a north-south trail from Canada to Mexico passing through Big Mountain pass and crosses the Mormon Pioneer trail and the Pony Express trail.

The California Trail

The California Trail was really a California-Oregon trail. It generally went north of Big Mountain but some cut south over Big Mountain en-route to California.