Harry S Truman National Historic Site, the Santa Fe Trail
in Missouri · centroid 9 mi from Kansas City
The Harry S. Truman National Historic Site preserves the longtime home of Harry S. Truman and other properties in the Kansas City, Missouri, metropolitan area associated with him. Not only was Truman the thirty third president of the United States, he was also instrumental in the preservation of the Santa Fe Trail.
Truman served as president of the National Old Trails Road Association from 1926 to 1948. In the mid-1920s, Truman was tasked with determining the official route of the National Old Trails Road, which included the Santa Fe Trail. Between 1926 and 1927, he traveled the Santa Fe Trail many times for this purpose.
Eventually, the road ran coast to coast and was developed for car travel. During this time, Truman also traveled the route several times to select the locations for the 12 DAR Madonna of the Trail Statues. This series of statues was dedicated to the spirit of pioneer women in the United States and were commissioned by the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR).
- States
- Missouri
- Trail type
- National Historic Site trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Kansas City, MO · 9 mi · ~15 min drive
- Centroid coords
- 39.0936°, -94.4152°
About Harry S Truman National Historic Site
This trail is inside Harry S Truman National Historic Site, a national historic site managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/harry-s-truman-national-historic-site-the-santa-fe-trail.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/hstr/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Harry S Truman National Historic Site, the Santa Fe Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Stay nearby
Other trails within 50 miles
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.