What’s Going On?

Traveling the off-Interstate “blue” highways is the “in” thing these days. William Least-Heat Moon, in his best selling book, Blue Highways, celebrates back roads which appear as blue lines on state maps. The Yellowstone Trail would be a blue line on many maps, if the map makers knew of its existence. The old auto Trail does not appear on maps any more as an entity of its own. It appears as a numbered part of state highway systems, county roads, an occasional Interstate, and obscure township roads.

The new Yellowstone Trail Association is seeking to uncover the old Trail, to put signs up, to bring to the forefront the existence of this old Trail, the transcontinental highway from history. We publish events past, present or future to stir men’s (and women’s) souls to show what a grassroots movement can achieve in members’ own parts of the Trail.

Join with other State Tourism Departments, Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVB), Destination Marketing Organization, Chambers of Commerce, Economic Development Organizations, together with state and local history groups and museums to promote heritage tourism along YOUR Trail and literally lead tourists to your door.

Seven communities in central Wisconsin are using the YT as a theme in their economic and tourism promotion efforts. The Trail will be marked along a 40 route from Curtiss to Cadott.

Wisconsin's Chippewa County will have their part of the Trail well marked by May 2006.

What has been done

! South Milwaukee, Waupaca, Theresa and Cudahy in Wisconsin have marked the Trail through their communities.

!13 Wisconsin CVBs along the Trail received two Department of Tourism grants in three years, allowing them to produce 100,000 brochures featuring tourist destinations. The first grant produced significant tourism publicity, generating over $65,000 in earned print media in newspapers and magazines.

!The same 13 participating CVBs placed advertisements for the Yellowstone Trail in their annual Visitors Guides totaling over 600,000 gross impressions.

!4 CVBs sponsored an antique car run100 miles along the Trail in 2000.

!The Aberdeen, South Dakota Chamber of Commerce led a project to mark the Trail across South Dakota.

!A CVB and village council created a Yellowstone Trail Park along the Trail in their community.

!Chambers of Commerce, local historical societies, and CVBs have cooperated recently in planning community “Trail Day”” events in several cities.

Trail Days have long been a tradition. Ipswich, South Dakota, the home of the Trail, has a successful record of Trail Days.

!Membership in the Yellowstone Trail Association will open a huge potential for you to Build on that Achievement:

!The magazine, American Road, which celebrates old roads, has invited a couple of YellowstoneTrail enthusiasts to be columnists. One of their Trail articles are in each issue.

!50 presentations have been given in 5 states regarding the Yellowstone Trail.

!Trees were planted along the Trail as a beautification effort by a Yellowstone Trail Committee in one state.

!The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preserving the Historic Road in America Division, sponsored speakers in a presentation about the Trail.

!South Milwaukee marked its streets along the Trail in 2003. ( See the article in the National Arrow.)

Things to do yet

!Continuing national publicity and significant grants would accompany the designation of sections of the Yellowstone Trail as a National Scenic Byway or All American Road. The Association will work with members to promote the selection of the Yellowstone Trail in the National Scenic Byways Program using the Historical Interest criterion.

!Publish mile-post-type of tourism guide for the Trail modeled on the historical Automobile Blue Books produced from 1901 through the 1920's.

!Establish local Trail Days in the spirit of the original local efforts to maintain or celebrate the Trail through community effort.

!Cooperatively publish guides to antiquing, B&Bs, historical and transportation museums, scenic drives or historic buildings along the Trail in your local area or state.

!Work with auto clubs to sponsor antique car runs along the Trail.

!Place cooperative advertisements for the Trail in major magazines such as American Road, the emerging leader in old road travel.

!Use a membership in the Yellowstone Trail Association to Build on that Achievement

!Promote a Trail Day as a festival for your community.

!Produce business-and-Trail-related brochures (e.g. Quilting Along the Trail, or Antique Shops Along the Trail, etc.)or business-and-Trail-related restaurant paper place mats.

!Join the effort to place the Trail in the Scenic Byways Program of your state.

!Search out local Trail routes and find a way to mark the Trail in your area, perhaps by painting rocks with the black and yellow Trail logo.

!Join a proposed project to place the Trail and other historic roads on your official state map and tourist literature.

!Join in an effort to create and display a “traveling display” of Trail information to participating museums and other groups.