how far did lewis and clark travel round trip
Lewis and Clark traveled about 8,000 miles round trip on their expedition from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back.
Quick Scoop: Core Facts
- The Corps of Discovery left near St. Louis in May 1804 and returned in September 1806, covering nearly three years of overland and river travel.
- Historians and modern references consistently estimate the full round‑trip distance at roughly 8,000 miles (about 13,000 km).
- Around 5,000 of those miles were along the Missouri River alone, going up and then back down that main waterway.
Why the Number Is “Approximate”
Measuring their route isn’t as exact as reading an odometer on a car.
- They followed winding rivers, portaged around falls, and took side trips to explore or hunt, which adds distance that’s hard to calculate precisely.
- Modern reconstructions using journals and maps still converge on “nearly 8,000 miles” as the best-supported estimate for the full round trip.
Mini Timeline of the Journey
- Departure from the St. Louis area up the Missouri River in May 1804.
- Reached the Pacific coast (Fort Clatsop area, near present-day Astoria, Oregon) by late 1805.
- Began the return from Fort Clatsop in March 1806 and arrived back in September 1806, completing the ~8,000‑mile loop.
In modern terms, their round trip was like walking back and forth across the continental United States more than twice—without roads, GPS, or modern gear.
TL;DR: Lewis and Clark’s expedition traveled about 8,000 miles round trip between 1804 and 1806, most of it along the Missouri, Columbia, and connecting river systems.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.