There are many different ways to do a Church History Trip, look through all the things that would be good for your family and plan accordingly. Hopefully some of these blogs posts will be a good resource. We took the trek from Utah to Nauvoo, Illinois in our Motorhome. We left on a Sunday Morning and made it back home on the next Saturday. We spent a couple days in Nauvoo, but only stopped in the other Church History location for a short time.
We started in Northern Utah and ending in Nauvoo. We made a lot of stops on the way from Utah to Nauvoo, trying to see as many places as possible, but when we left Nauvoo and headed home, we drove straight back to Utah, with only stops for gas and sleep.
It was a perfect trip for our family, great weather, great company, spiritual stories and life lessons. We all walked away from the trip spiritually uplifted, and happy with the outcome. This post will give you some ideas on things we experienced, and hopefully it’ll help you plan your Church History Trip.
Major Church History Stops on the way to Nauvoo
- The first stop was Martins Cove. Martins Cove is about 6 hours from Utah County. It was a Sunday morning when we left and we were a little worried that the visitors center would be closed, but they were open and it was a very inspiring stop for our family. Martins Cove is about a half hour from the closest town, so be prepared before you go.
We planned on camping near Martins Cove, but the bugs were terrible and there was not an ‘easy’ place to camp close by. We ended up going back to Rawlings Wyoming and camping there in the Walmart parking lot, with 30 other campers.
After a good nights sleep we traveled the long stretch from Wyoming, through Nebraska to see Winter Quarters.
2. Winter Quarters was the next stop. We made it there just before everything was closing down. The missionaries were wonderful, the spirit was strong, and the historical accounts were inspiring. We looked up ancestors buried in the cemetery, walked around the temple and had a wonderful time.
3. Council Bluff is not very far from Winter Quarters, and we stopped there, but it is all under construction, so there wasn’t anything to see. Also, very close it a marker where the Mormon Battalion assembled, it is a signpost next to a school.
4. Onto the Missouri sites next. We started at Liberty Jail, went to see the Farr West Temple Stones, Independence Missouri Visitors Center, the three witnesses monument, the 8 witnesses monument and Adam-Ondi-Ahaman.
5. From Adam-Ondi-Ahaman we traveled over the Nauvoo. We made it there at night, right after the Nauvoo Pageant was finishing up and we stayed the night in a little state park next to the Mississippi River until we were able to get into the State Park we stayed in for the next couple days.
More Blog Posts on Church History Trips
Church History Trip Preparation-Movies
Movies and Books to prepare Youth for Trek