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The Oregon Trail #4
The Oregon Trail: The Road to Oregon City: The Final Book―A Dangerous Survival Journey Where Your Choices Matter for Kids
The end of the Oregon Trail is near, young pioneer—the fourth and final leg of your journey starts here. But, do you have the grit to make it to Oregon City? The wild frontier is full of risks and unpredictable surprises! This is the final installment of four books that will take you all the way to Oregon Territory— if you make the right choices.
In the fourth and final book of this exciting choose-your-own-trail series, it's 1850 and you've traveled for more than three months on foot for fifteen miles a day with your family, covered wagon, and oxen. There are holes in the bottoms of your shoes. You've faced grizzly bears, traded with merchants, and wild bandits. Oregon City is so close—you can taste it. But you still have a ways to go on the Trail. There are still weeks of travel ahead of you— if you can survive the dangerous frontier.
Trust yourself. Which path will you choose? With twenty-two possible endings, every decision counts. Choose wisely and make it all the way to Oregon City!
In the fourth and final book of this exciting choose-your-own-trail series, it's 1850 and you've traveled for more than three months on foot for fifteen miles a day with your family, covered wagon, and oxen. There are holes in the bottoms of your shoes. You've faced grizzly bears, traded with merchants, and wild bandits. Oregon City is so close—you can taste it. But you still have a ways to go on the Trail. There are still weeks of travel ahead of you— if you can survive the dangerous frontier.
Trust yourself. Which path will you choose? With twenty-two possible endings, every decision counts. Choose wisely and make it all the way to Oregon City!
176 pages, Paperback
Published September 4, 2018
13 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
June 19, 2019
Well, I made it to Oregon! Overall, I think it's a fun series for kids that help them learn more about history, but sometimes the decision making contradicts itself from one decision to the next.
December 27, 2020
What a long journey through Oregon. There were so many hard choices but I made it. I loved the different choices and would read more by this author.
March 27, 2019
An enjoyable and satisfying ending, though the stakes are stupid high; you could lose your milk cow, dog, father or feet depending on your choices. Awesome series for hard-boiled youngsters.
August 15, 2018
First sentence: You are a young settler headed out West by wagon train in the year 1850.
Premise/plot: This is the fourth book in this choose your own adventure series inspired by the classic computer game Oregon Trail. There are either twenty-three or twenty-four possible endings, but only one sees you reach your dream destination of Oregon City. Some endings are more bleak and dismal than others.
My thoughts: I have enjoyed this series. I have. I've read one a day. I've read all the possible endings for each book in the series. I can easily recommend the series as a whole.
The narrator, the "you" is obviously a child within the story. We don't know if the you is a young man or a young woman. But for better or worse the YOU is trusted with some mighty big decisions. Not just within the family--what will your wagon do--but ultimately what the wagon train does. I don't think that is realistic to the real world. (However it is so realistic to a game.)
The endings tend to be bleak and dismal OR unrealistically cheerful. For example, more than once the family decides to settle elsewhere. Ma is always selling FRUIT PIES and QUILTS wherever the family ends up settling. Often they end up settling because a) someone gets injured or sick b) the wagon is in too poor condition to go on c) the author wanted an excuse to end the story early. Pa is good at hunting and building furniture and repairing things. It is not that I want every ending to end in the grave--I don't. But where is Ma getting the fruit? If fruit trees were that readily available along the trail you'd never have endings where you die of scurvy. Where is Ma getting an endless supply of SUGAR and FLOUR? True, they have a cow. But would one cow really forever and ever produce enough milk and butter to start a bakery? Where is Ma getting fabric? Yes, you can make quilts from old clothes, old blankets, flour sacks, etc. But where would new clothes and new blankets come from? Where would your essentials come from to decide if you're out in the middle of nowhere not close to any forts or settlements?
But overall, I do like the books!
Premise/plot: This is the fourth book in this choose your own adventure series inspired by the classic computer game Oregon Trail. There are either twenty-three or twenty-four possible endings, but only one sees you reach your dream destination of Oregon City. Some endings are more bleak and dismal than others.
My thoughts: I have enjoyed this series. I have. I've read one a day. I've read all the possible endings for each book in the series. I can easily recommend the series as a whole.
The narrator, the "you" is obviously a child within the story. We don't know if the you is a young man or a young woman. But for better or worse the YOU is trusted with some mighty big decisions. Not just within the family--what will your wagon do--but ultimately what the wagon train does. I don't think that is realistic to the real world. (However it is so realistic to a game.)
The endings tend to be bleak and dismal OR unrealistically cheerful. For example, more than once the family decides to settle elsewhere. Ma is always selling FRUIT PIES and QUILTS wherever the family ends up settling. Often they end up settling because a) someone gets injured or sick b) the wagon is in too poor condition to go on c) the author wanted an excuse to end the story early. Pa is good at hunting and building furniture and repairing things. It is not that I want every ending to end in the grave--I don't. But where is Ma getting the fruit? If fruit trees were that readily available along the trail you'd never have endings where you die of scurvy. Where is Ma getting an endless supply of SUGAR and FLOUR? True, they have a cow. But would one cow really forever and ever produce enough milk and butter to start a bakery? Where is Ma getting fabric? Yes, you can make quilts from old clothes, old blankets, flour sacks, etc. But where would new clothes and new blankets come from? Where would your essentials come from to decide if you're out in the middle of nowhere not close to any forts or settlements?
But overall, I do like the books!
June 16, 2020
Jackson read on his own Summer 2020. He gave it 5 stars.
February 13, 2024
My son and I read this series and LOVED it! We had so much fun each night taking risks that both failed miserably and gloriously succeeded. We can't even tell you the amount of times we died and in such creative ways. It was much harder than I thought it would be!
October 31, 2022
good book
October 12, 2024
Book four (whoops) of a "Choose Your Own Adventure"-style interactive story where only one path leads to Willamette Valley (and Oregon City in specific), but there are 23 other endings... only MOST of them bad! I mean, I wouldn't expect EVERY alternate ending to be bad, but certainly some of the choices have a bit of a "walking dead" nature to them: By taking one path, you result in choices that lead to only bad endings. In a way, that's good, since it illustrates the consequences of those actions, but it's also tedious to read in a fashion that allows you to see every ending.
No, I don't mean reading front to back, since that removes context. I mean leaving a bookmark at the first decision point, then reading the (ideally) less-good option first to see if that leads to an ending. If not, then leave a second bookmark at the new decision point, then go back to the first bookmark and read the other option, etc., until finding the endings for each. This allows you to read the entire book contextually with minimal backtracking... though the downside is forgetting which choice led to certain decisions (I can't remember whether abandoning the wagon was good or not).
I mean, I guess in one respect, it's a good read if somehow you only have one book in the series, since it has a starting point and concludes in the expected ending point. There's only a minimal amount of exposition needed (particularly if you're already familiar with the game. The one curious choice is you're the eldest child rather than the mother or father, and somehow they defer to you for making decisions... I guess it makes for at least one compelling ending, though (where you become head of the household), even if the choice that leads there is odd ().
An interesting way to keep the spirit of the original edutainment game alive, certainly, though probably even more compelling in a completed set (though I can't vouch for that, having only the one book).
No, I don't mean reading front to back, since that removes context. I mean leaving a bookmark at the first decision point, then reading the (ideally) less-good option first to see if that leads to an ending. If not, then leave a second bookmark at the new decision point, then go back to the first bookmark and read the other option, etc., until finding the endings for each. This allows you to read the entire book contextually with minimal backtracking... though the downside is forgetting which choice led to certain decisions (I can't remember whether abandoning the wagon was good or not).
I mean, I guess in one respect, it's a good read if somehow you only have one book in the series, since it has a starting point and concludes in the expected ending point. There's only a minimal amount of exposition needed (particularly if you're already familiar with the game. The one curious choice is you're the eldest child rather than the mother or father, and somehow they defer to you for making decisions... I guess it makes for at least one compelling ending, though (where you become head of the household), even if the choice that leads there is odd ().
An interesting way to keep the spirit of the original edutainment game alive, certainly, though probably even more compelling in a completed set (though I can't vouch for that, having only the one book).
July 22, 2019
A satisfying end to a good four book series. While I still believe these could have been written with a few more than just one successful path to the end (to reflect the various successful paths that could be taken on the trail) this was still a good book that makes good use of the survival advice from the handbook. I will say, however, that if you've read the first three books before this one, you might find this one much easier to succeed in, as all the survival advice you will have picked up over the previous books will have prepared you for almost everything you will encounter in this one. Which is actually kind of cool when you think about it. It reflects the learning the actual pioneers would have had to make too. Good book!
July 24, 2025
In this book, you're the main character! You and your family decide to set out for Oregon Territory in 1850, and you'll have to battle the elements, wild animals, illness, and boredom on your way there. Use the guide in the back to help you make the right decisions that will keep your family safe on the unpaved paths your wagon train takes. In this volume, you've almost made it to your destination, but dangers still lurk around every bend. From September snowstorms to the rapids of the Columbia River, you'll need everything you've learned on the journey to finish this last leg. Choose wisely if you wish to survive!
A really fun series for anyone who likes history, pioneers, or who loves the old video game.
A really fun series for anyone who likes history, pioneers, or who loves the old video game.
January 31, 2021
A nostalgic read for adults who grew up playing the Apple II version of the Oregon Trail computer game, featuring a richly developed plot that stretches across 4 books in the series, including this final book.
These are very similar to the old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books that you may have read as a kid, with one significant difference: there's only 1 correct sequence of choices that will lead to the ending desired. Any wrong choice along the way will prevent the reader from reaching Oregon City, resulting in one of 20+ alternate "unhappy" endings.
These are very similar to the old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books that you may have read as a kid, with one significant difference: there's only 1 correct sequence of choices that will lead to the ending desired. Any wrong choice along the way will prevent the reader from reaching Oregon City, resulting in one of 20+ alternate "unhappy" endings.
November 17, 2019
These books take me back to a childhood filled with Oregon Trail computer games, and Choose Your Own Adventure books.
January 24, 2020
Boys enjoyed the entire series.
June 3, 2020
I read this to my 5th graders during our Westward Expansion unit in SS. They really enjoyed the CYOA aspect of it! We only got dysentery and died a few times, hahaha.
February 14, 2021
Man, this series was just SO much fun. And of course, I am now dying to replay the game.
April 2, 2021
This has been a fun series to read with the kids, especially as they have been learning about the western expansion.
May 2, 2021
Fantastic and educational series that puts you in the shoes of the characters going west on the Oregon Trail.
October 28, 2021
Finished it! #finishitpod
Want to read
June 23, 2023My mom bought me this series at Flood Town Books in Heppner, Oregon when I was visiting her in June 2023. Very nostalgic---these look fun!
December 7, 2023
This one was rough, I think the boys and I tried every possible way before we finally made it through.
December 12, 2023
This last book in the series was a bit trickier as their tips in the back were not always the right path to follow!
Such a fun series and highly recommend for your 3-5 grade aged kiddos.
Such a fun series and highly recommend for your 3-5 grade aged kiddos.
July 11, 2024
This one has way more unexpected endings 😂
October 3, 2025
my son and I absolutely loved reading these together.
November 25, 2025
I made it to Oregon city!! Wooo! great book series to teach people about the Oregon trail and what dangers and hardships the pioneers faced
December 17, 2025
died alot, had to backtrack a lot, but finally completed it. good series! other choose your own adventure books need to follow suit.
January 16, 2019
reading with x
we will have to revisit. we made it to an ending but not to Oregon.
we will have to revisit. we made it to an ending but not to Oregon.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews