Experience a handcart trek much like the one pioneers endured over 150 years ago. Visit the Mormon Handcart Visitors' Center and view exhibits recording the tragic circumstances of two handcart companies. Leaving late in the summer, they risked bad weather, exposure, and death in order to unite with the main body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Although most early pioneers traveled west using a covered wagon and team of oxen, there were many who couldn't afford such travel accommodations. The less expensive handcart, much like a large shallow wheelbarrow, allowed the poorer pioneers to afford the journey west. Because travel was more difficult with a handcart, it became a familiar symbol of dedication and duty to God.
While you're at the visitors' center, explore Martin's Cove, where the battered Martin Handcart Company huddled and waited for snowstorms to subside.
Adjacent to Devil's Gate, the Mormon Handcart Visitors' Center is 33 miles southwest of Alcova.
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