Auto trails were usually marked and sometimes maintained by organizations of private individuals. Some, such as the Lincoln Highway Association, were well-known and well-organized, while others were the work of fly-by-night promoters. The Lincoln Highway was the first automobile road across America. It has been said that anyone with enough paint and the will to do so could set up a trail; trails were not usually linked to road improvements, though counties and states often prioritized road improvements because they were on trails. A US state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States of America that share Sovereignty with the federal government
In the mid-to-late 1920s, the auto trails were essentially replaced in the United States with the system of numbered U.S. Highways. The system of United States Numbered Highways (often called U Similar numbering schemes had begun to be implemented in the Canadian provinces as well.
| Name |
North or east end |
South or west end |
U.S. Highways (approximate, based on 1926 plan and later additions) |
Notes |
| Albert Pike Highway |
Hot Springs, AR |
Colorado Springs, CO |
US 270, US 64, US 183, US 154, US 50, US 85 |
| Arrowhead Trail |
Salt Lake City, UT |
Los Angeles, CA |
US 91 |
| Atlantic Highway |
Calais, ME |
Miami, FL |
US 1, US 25, US 17, US 1 |
| Atlantic-Pacific Highway |
New York, NY |
Los Angeles, CA |
US 1, US 211, US 15, US 33, US 60, US 52, US 460, US 50, US 54, US 70, US 60 |
| Atlantic Yellowstone Pacific Highway |
Chicago, IL |
Sioux Falls, SD |
US 20, US 218, US 18 |
| Bankhead Highway |
Washington, DC |
San Diego, CA |
US 1, US 15, US 70, US 170, US 29, US 78, US 70, US 67, US 80 |
| Bee Line Highway |
|
|
|
| Ben Hur Highway |
St. Louis, MO |
Fort Dodge, IA |
|
| Black and Yellow Trail |
Chicago, IL |
Yellowstone National Park |
US 41, US 16, US 14, US 16, US 20 |
| Blackhawk Highway |
Dixon, IL |
Beloit, WI |
|
| California-Banff Bee Line |
|
|
|
| Capital Route |
Omaha, NE |
Austin, TX |
|
| Chicago, Kansas City and Gulf Highway |
Chicago, IL |
Galveston, TX |
|
| Colorado to Gulf Highway |
Denver, CO |
Galveston, TX and Brownsville, TX |
US 85, US 385, US 370, US 81, US 181 |
| Columbia River Highway |
Pendleton, OR |
Portland, OR |
US 30 |
| Cooley Highway |
|
|
|
| Cornhusker Highway |
Sioux City, IA |
Oklahoma City, OK |
|
| Custer Battlefield Highway |
Omaha, NE |
Glacier National Park |
US 75, US 16, US 116, US 87E, US 87 |
| Dallas-Canadian-Denver Highway |
Boulder, CO |
Galveston, TX |
US 85, US 50, US 83, US 70, US 77 |
| Detroit-Lincoln-Denver Highway |
Detroit, MI |
Denver, CO |
US 12, US 32, US 38 |
| Dixie Highway |
Chicago, IL and Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
Miami, FL |
|
| Dixie Bee Line |
Chicago, IL |
Nashville, TN |
US 41, US 241 |
| Dixie Overland Highway |
Savannah, GA |
San Diego, CA |
US 80, US 84, US 380, US 366, US 80 |
| Evergreen National Highway |
Victoria, BC |
El Paso, TX |
US 99, US 10, US 97, US 410, US 95, US 30, US 30N, US 91, US 95, US 66 |
| Florida Short Route |
|
|
|
| George Washington National Highway |
Savannah, GA |
Seattle, WA |
|
| Geysers-to-Glaciers Highway |
Glacier National Park |
Yellowstone National Park |
|
| Glacier to Gulf Motorway |
Calgary, AB |
Tampico, Mexico |
|
| Glacier Trail |
Seattle, WA |
Miami, FL |
|
| Grant Highway |
Chicago, IL |
Portland, OR |
|
| International Peace Highway |
Quebec, QC and Rouses Point, NY |
Laredo, TX and Mexico City, Mexico |
|
| Jackson Highway |
Chicago, IL |
New Orleans, LA |
US 152, US 52, US 31, US 168, US 68, US 31, US 43, US 45, US 11 |
| Jefferson Highway |
Winnipeg, MB |
New Orleans, LA |
US 59, US 2, US 71, US 10N, US 10, US 65, US 69, US 71/US 73E, US 73, US 75, US 69, US 67, US 271, US 80, US 171, US 71, US 61 |
| Jefferson Davis National Highway |
Washington, DC |
San Francisco, CA |
US 1, US 278, US 29, US 80, US 43, US 90, US 96, US 277, US 90 |
| John Anderson Highway |
|
|
|
| King of Trails |
Winnipeg, MB |
Galveston, TX and Brownsville, TX |
US 75/US 81, US 75/US 77, US 75, US 73, US 73E, US 50, US 73W, US 75, US 77, US 81, US 181, US 96 |
| Kings Transcontinental Highway |
Ottawa |
Toronto |
|
| Lackawanna Trail |
Binghamton, NY |
Delaware, NJ |
|
| Lakes to Gulf Highway |
Duluth, MN |
Galveston, TX |
|
| Lakes-to-Sea Highway |
Atlantic City, NJ |
Erie, PA |
US 30, US 120, US 22, US 322, US 19 |
| Lee Highway |
New York, NY |
San Francisco, CA |
US 1, US 211, US 11, US 72, US 70, US 366, US 80, US 180, US 80, US 101 |
| Lewis and Clark Highway |
Missoula, MT |
Lewiston, ID |
|
| Liberty Highway |
|
|
|
| Lincoln Highway |
New York, NY |
San Francisco, CA |
US 1, US 30, US 530, US 40, US 50, US 40, US 99, US 48 |
| Logan-Lee Highway |
Rock Island, IL |
Paducah, KY |
|
| Lone Star Route |
Chicago, IL |
Lake Charles, LA (earlier Brownsville, TX) |
US 66, US 67, US 63, US 165 |
| Lone Star Trail |
St. Augustine, FL |
Los Angeles, CA |
US 1, US 90, US 84, US 67, US 290, US 80 |
| Magnolia Route |
|
|
|
| Meridian Highway |
Winnipeg, MB |
Mexico City, Mexico |
US 81 |
| Mississippi River Scenic Highway |
Winnipeg, MB and Port Arthur, ON |
Fort Myers, FL and Port Arthur, TX |
US 75, US 2, US 71, US 10N, US 10, US 61, US 55, US 61, US 90; US 49E, US 49, US 98, US 90, US 19, US 41 |
| Mississippi Valley Highway |
Ely, MN |
Gulfport, MS (earlier New Orleans, LA) |
US 53, US 61, US 55, US 161, US 67, US 51, US 45, US 11, US 49 |
Earlier known as the Burlington Way |
| National Old Trails Road |
Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD |
Los Angeles, CA |
US 240/US 40, US 40, US 50N, US 50, US 350, US 85, US 70, US 66 |
| National Park-to-Park Highway |
Loop connecting National Parks |
|
US 99, US 48, US 40, US 99E, US 99, US 10, US 195, US 95, US 2, US 87, US 87W, US 20, US 185, US 85, US 50, US 285, US 450, US 550, US 64, US 666, US 66 |
| National Parks Highway |
Boston, MA and New York, NY |
Seattle, WA |
|
Also known as the Northwest Trail |
| National Roosevelt Midland Trail |
Washington, DC and Newport News, VA (earlier Oyster Bay, NY) |
Los Angeles, CA |
US 60, US 150, US 50, US 40, US 40N, US 40, US 40S, US 50, US 6 |
| National White Way |
|
|
|
| New Santa Fe Trail |
|
|
|
| Old Oregon Trail |
Independence, MO |
Seaside, OR and Olympia, WA |
US 40, US 30, US 26, US 20, US 87E, US 30N, US 30 |
| Old Spanish Trail |
St. Augustine, FL |
San Diego, CA |
US 1, US 90, US 80 |
| Ozark Trails |
Kansas City, MO, Hannibal, MO, St. Louis, MO, and Memphis, TN |
Denver, CO, Las Vegas, NM, and El Paso, TX |
|
| Pacific Highway |
Vancouver, BC |
San Diego, CA |
US 99, US 40, US 101 |
| Pershing Way |
Winnipeg, MB |
New Orleans, LA |
|
| Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway |
New York, NY |
Los Angeles, CA (earlier San Francisco, CA) |
US 22, US 250, US 36, US 136, US 36, US 40N, US 40S, US 50, US 91 |
Also known as the Pershing Transport Route |
| Puget Sound-to-Gulf Highway |
|
|
|
| Red Ball Route |
|
|
|
| River-to-River Road |
Davenport, IA |
Omaha, NE |
|
| Southern National Highway |
|
|
|
| Southwest Trail |
Chicago, IL |
El Paso, TX |
US 32, US 65, US 50S, US 81, US 160, US 281, US 60, US 366 |
| Susquehanna Trail |
Buffalo, NY |
Washington, DC |
US 20, US 15, US 111/US 240 |
| Theodore Roosevelt International Highway |
Portland, ME |
Portland, OR |
US 302, US 2, US 11, US 104, US 23, US 2, US 95, US 195, US 295, US 410, US 30 |
| Three C Highway |
Cleveland, OH |
Cincinnati, OH |
US 42 |
| Victory Highway |
New York, NY |
San Francisco, CA |
US 1, US 40, US 40S, US 83, US 40N, US 40 |
| White River Trail |
Springfield, MO |
Ponca City, OK |
|
| William Penn Highway |
|
|
US 22 |
| Yellowstone Highway |
Denver, CO |
Yellowstone National Park |
|
| Yellowstone Trail |
Plymouth, MA |
Seattle, WA |
US 20, US 30, US 41, US 110, US 10, US 212, US 12, US 10, US 195, US 295, US 410, US 97, US 10 |