Lewis and Clark Trail on the Air

News

The planning for the 2025 Lewis and Clark Trail on the Air event has started. The LCTOTA committee is actively contacting and signing up clubs along the Lewis and Clark Trail to activate their state on the trail. We are looking forward to a lot of the clubs from last year returning. Our goal is to have at least 2 clubs represent each state to ensure there are plenty of activating stations for the hunting stations to find. If your club is in one of the 16 states along the trail, and is interested in activating for this event, please contact our committee at info@LCTOTA.org.
New for 2025: We are adding two bonus stations representing the Jefferson Indian peace medal. These were medals handed out by Lewis and Clark as tokens of friendship and peace to the Indian Chiefs they met on the expedition. By contacting the bonus stations, a hunter can use these contacts to substitute for a state they may be missing to get to Expedition Partner status.

Introduction

The Lewis and Clark Trail on the Air special event is an on air activity that commemorates the historic Lewis and Clark Trail. The trail covers 4900 miles through 16 states. This includes the disembarkation from Camp Dubois and what is referred to as the Eastern Legacy. The event is sponsored by the Clark County Amateur Radio Club with support and participation from clubs in all 16 states along the historic trail.

Event Summary

Date: May 31^st, 2025 to June 15^th, 2025 (May 30^th, 5pm Pacific - June 15^th, 5pm Pacific)

Time Start: 0000 UTC

Time Ends: 2359 UTC

Operating Hours: 24 hrs/day for duration of the event

Simple Rules: Contact one club in each of the 16 states on the historic Lewis and Clark Trail. There are 2 bonus stations that may be substituted for a missing state to get to a 16 state total. Operating modes include SSB Phone, FM Phone, CW and FT8/FT4. Any combination of modes towards working all 16 states and bonus stations is allowed. A schedule for planned operations for each activating station on the trail will be posted on this web site.

Certificate: Certificates can be requested for two classes of participation:

Expedition Partner certificate: Any station working all 16 states or substituting 1 or 2 of the bonus stations is eligible for the Expedition Partner certificate. Example
Trail Companion certificate: Any station working 1-15 states counting the optional bonus stations is eligible for the Trail Companion certificate. Example

Participants making contact with activating stations from one or more states will be able to purchase a certificate after the event. Certificates can be delivered either as an emailed PDF, or printed on high-quality paper and shipped. If you purchase a paper certificate, we will also send you the PDF version. Certificates will be available for purchase through July 31, 2025 via the Certificates page. PDF's will be emailed starting July 31^st. Printed certificates will be mailed on September 19^th.

On the Air Exchange: The on-air exchange will include call sign and state for CW and Phone. FT8/FT4 will be the standard exchange: call-sign, signal report, and grid square.

Logs: Only the activating stations in each of the 16 states along the trail will submit logs. Logs are not required from hunting stations. However, it is courteous to submit your personal log to Logbook of the World or other logging entity. Please submit your request for a certificate by July 31^st of the activation year.

History: 2022 was the inaugural event for this activity.

Information: For more information, please send us a message at info@lctota.org.