This moment outdoors is brought to you by L.L. Bean, official partner of the National Park Foundation for

the Find Your Park Movement. I'm I'm standing on the Powder Mill Pedestrian Bridge which spans Interstate 435 in Southern Kansas City, Missouri.

I'm looking south to the confluence of I-485, I 49, I-470, U.S. 5050 and US-71.

Over 250,000 cars a day passed through here,

making what is known to the locals as the Grandview Triangle, one of the busiest interchanges in the country.

In fact, this has been one of the most traveled stretches of road since before there was a road.

The Grand View Triangle officially goes by another name,

the Three Trails Crossing Memorial Highway.

200 years ago, about 15 miles north of this spot,

wagon trails set out on their journeys along one of three routes towards the largely unknown west

For about 50 miles the trails were one, before they diverged.

The bridge I'm standing on is in fact part of the 46 mile three trails corridor, as it's now

known.

It was erected specifically to allow people to walk or bike the 46 mile journey before the trails

separate.

Through the concrete jungle of Kansas City passing many historic sites until it reaches

beyond the edges of town, where greengrass fields still show wagon ruts from the 19th century pioneers.

The upper route headed towards Oregon and the middle route to California. The Oregon and California trails

were pathways to the Pacific for fur traders, gold seekers, missionaries, and

immigrants. For almost 30 years, beginning in 1841, more than 300,000 immigrants followed this route

from the Midwest to fertile Oregon farmlands or California Goldfields, trips that took

five months to complete. But the lower route was another

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