~Welcome to the Yellowstone Trail Association~
As we prepare to celebrate
America’s 250th Anniversary and the
Yellowstone Trail Association’s 114th Anniversary,
it is worth looking back at where it all began.
Understanding our past helps illuminate the road ahead.
Visit the “Our Story” page to discover the history of the
Yellowstone Trail and the Yellowstone Trail Association—
and see how a vision born more than a century ago
continues to guide us today.
Current YTA co-founder Alice A. Ridge has written another wonderful Yellowstone Trail article,
“The Yellowstone Trail and America’s 250th Birthday” (see below) May, 2026.
Founded in 1912, the Yellowstone Trail Association pioneered America’s first transcontinental highway, the Yellowstone Trail.
Stretching from East to West, the route guided early motorists across the country and onward to Yellowstone National Park, helping open the American road to modern travel.
Yellowstone Park Livestream
Click here to watch a Yellowstone National Park
livestream of Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin,
check weather conditions, or spot wildlife.
Livestream and static webcams provide a real-time look at what’s happening in Yellowstone Park right now!
…… Travel the Trail……!
Alice A. Ridge offers a fascinating lens through which to view both America’s approaching 250th anniversary and the enduring legacy of the Yellowstone Trail—May, 2026.
Click Here for The Yellowstone Trail and America’s 250th Birthday
by Alice A. Ridge
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Alice A. Ridge
Alice A. Ridge is an American historian and local author known for her work documenting the early history of the Yellowstone Trail—the first transcontinental automobile route in the United States.
She is best recognized as co-author of The Yellowstone Trail: A Good Road from Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound, a comprehensive account of the road’s cultural and historical significance.
Alice is a current YTA Board of Directors Member.
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Key facts
Field: American history, transportation heritage
Known for: Research and writing on the Yellowstone Trail
Notable work: The Yellowstone Trail: A Good Road from Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound
Collaborator: John W. Ridge (co-author and husband)
Affiliation: Yellowstone Trail Association
Yellowstone Trail scholarship
Ridge’s research focuses on the development of early 20th-century automobile travel and its role in connecting rural America. Through archival studies, oral histories, and regional documentation, she helped chronicle the founding of the Yellowstone Trail Association (1912) and the route’s evolution from local dirt tracks to a continuous national highway stretching from Massachusetts to Washington State.
Preservation and outreach
Beyond her writing, Ridge has been active in historic-preservation efforts that promote roadside heritage and small-town tourism along the trail’s corridor. Her interpretive work supports museums and local governments in identifying remaining trail markers, restoring historic segments, and sharing the story of the road’s impact on commerce and mobility.
Legacy
Ridge’s contributions have made the Yellowstone Trail one of the better-documented examples of America’s early highway movement. Her publications and talks continue to serve as resources for historians, travel writers, and community groups interested in early auto culture and the preservation of America’s first “good roads.”
The Yellowstone Trail (YT) was the very first transcontinental automobile highway in the United States.
The YT passes through the northern tier of states from Washington State to Massachusetts, starting in 1912.
The YT goes through 13 states connecting the East Coast and West Coast by way of Yellowstone National Park.
“Founder of the original Yellowstone Trail Association (1912)”
Joseph William Lincoln Parmley (January 12, 1861 – December 12, 1940) was an American pioneer and early developer of the north central region of South Dakota during its early statehood. He is today memorialized by the J. W. Parmley Historical Home and Parmley Western Land Office Museums in Ipswich, South Dakota.
Click here for Yellowstone Trail Association History.
Take a tour of the J. W. Parmley Historical Home and Museum along with the Parmley Land Agency building located in Ipswich, South Dakota. Narration and Tour Guide is Tom Hammrich, YTA Board of Director Member.
Click the play button (arrow) below:
We cordially invite you to Join in our ongoing Mission:
Public Education
To increase public awareness and understanding of the Yellowstone Trail (also called ‘The Trail’), and, its significance in both local and national history.
Historical Research
To collect, preserve, and share information, oral histories, and other documentation about the Trail and its historical context.
Historical Preservation
To encourage and support the preservation of appropriate sections of the Yellowstone Trail, as well as related buildings, landmarks, and artifacts.
Communication
To provide effective channels of communication, collaboration, and mutual support among members and interested parties.
Heritage Tourism
To promote heritage tourism along The Trail as a means of advancing the above charitable and educational purposes.
Related Events
To sponsor, organize, or support events and activities that highlight the history and significance of The Trail in furtherance of these purposes.
This website is an invitation to take, by auto or armchair, the Great American Road Trip along the nearly forgotten but historically important Yellowstone Trail.
An auto route “from Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound” was started at a time when roads carried wagons, and automobiles were few and still unreliable.
The Yellowstone Trail became a major factor in converting from railroads to highways.
This website is a guide to finding and exploring that highway’s nooks and crannies, scenic features both grand and unusual, and “things” that others have missed.
This website is based upon the Ridge’s book,
“A Good Road From Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound”.
In 2013, the Ridge’s released a video we proudly use today
as an introduction to the Yellowstone Trail.
Narration by Alice Ridge
A quick time-line overview of the YTA:
⇓ 1912
The original YTA was formed in 1912 and worked formally to create the transcontinental highway from Boston to Seattle known at the Yellowstone Trail.
⇓ Early 1930s
The Depression and aggressive efforts of state and federal governments to assume road building responsibility and route marking caused the YTA to fade, and, over time be forgotten.
The YTA was mostly inactive during this time until the end of the 1990’s.
⇓ Around 1999
A number of local historians, several retired university professors, and representatives of the tourism industry, individually and then collectively, began attempts to spread the word about the historical significance, the tourism potential, and the just plain fun that could be found in this old auto route.
Those efforts slowly jelled into a modern YTA that is beginning to make its mark.
Click here for YTA History page.
REMEMBER: Although the Yellowstone Trail Association was not active from 1931 – 1999, the Yellowstone Trail itself is still there today along with the Association.
We cordially invite you to Travel the Trail and have made two (2) tools to help you find the YT:
