The Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail continued to follow the Arkansas River into Colorado. Before entering Colorado, this route passed through Gray, Finney, Kearny, and Hamilton Counties in Kansas. Although the route was longer than the Cimarron Cutoff, it maintained access to water. It was less prone to Indian attacks than the shorter route through the Southwest corner of Kansas and the Oklahoma panhandle.

From Ford County, the trail continued into Gray County along the North side of the Arkansas River. The Middle Crossings of the Arkansas River to the Cimarron River extended from the Caches site, about two miles West of Dodge City, to Charleston, 26 miles farther West. US Highway 50 along the Arkansas River closely follows the trail route and passes by the crossing sites.

Due to its shallow flows, wagons could cross the Arkansas River virtually anywhere in this region. The Middle Crossings were the scenes of numerous Indian attacks during the Trail era.

The trail passed through Cimarron, Kansas, providing another branch to the shorter Cimarron Route to Santa Fe. It also crossed the Arkansas River here, and several more crossings lay on the path to Ingalls, Kansas. A marker designates this crossing in Cimarron Crossing Park about 1/2 mile South of Cimarron, Kansas, on K-23.

The Mountain Branch of the trail continued westward, following the Arkansas River near present-day US Highway 50, to Ingalls, where it crossed the river again.

 

©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated October 2026.

Also See:

Cimarron Branch Through Western Kansas

Kansas Main Page

Kansas Santa Fe Trail Photo Gallery

Santa Fe Trail Across Kansas

Santa Fe Trail – Pathway to the Southwest

Sources: See Santa Fe Trail Site Map & Writing Credits