The Jaredite Route to the Promised Land

The Jaredites traveled "northward" through Central Asia to China, then crossed
the Pacific Ocean to establish what archaeologists know as the Olmec culture.

Ether 1:1 And now I, Moroni, proceed to give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of this north country.

Notice that Mormon didn't say "land northward." Mormon reserves the term "land northward" for things entirely northwest the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, "the narrow neck of land," and the Coatzacoalcos River which is "the place where the sea divides the land." (Ether 10:20)

He uses "north country" to refer to the northern coast of the land southward, because the Jaredite heartland spills over the dividing line between the land northward and land southward. Much the same as the Mexican state of Veracruz does today.

Mormon is consistent with his use of north instead northward whenever he describes the location of the land Bountiful. Throughout the Book of Mormon, "north country" or the "northern parts" refers to the northern shores of the Land Southward. Read: Yucatan Island and the Land Bountiful.

The final Jaredite battles took place north of the narrow neck. That is why the land northward is sometimes called the Land of Desolation. The area had a bad vibe because of the bones, swords and armor strewn around the battlefields.

It was not because it was desolate of natural resources. The State of Veracruz is some of the most lush, beautiful and fertile parts of Mexico even now.

Now, let's discuss how they got there.

Ether 2:7 mentions a "sea in the wilderness" that the Jaredites passed through with barges.

The friends and family of Jared left Mesopotamia a couple hundred years after the global flood of Noah and when the languages were confounded because of the Tower of Babel. The were led by the Lord down into a valley then "northward" (northeast) through Central Asia.

Remnants today of the Central Asian inland
seas that existed during the time of Jared

Ether 2:1 And it came to pass that Jared and his brother, and their families, and also the friends of Jared and his brother and their families, went down into the valley which was northward. . .

When they reached Central Asia, they built barges to make their way through the large inland seas that existed at that time. The waters of Noah's flood were still trapped by the great geological changes that occurred during the year of that cataclysm.

How do I know there were inland seas? Because Ether 2:7 says there was, and geological evidence is still visible today.

Ether 2:6 . . . they did travel in the wilderness, and did build barges, in which they did cross many waters. . .

Giant ripples in Russia, left by the Altai floods

After crossing the sea in Central Asia they may have used animals to drag their barges up and through another sea in the valley of Lake Balkhash (or abandoned the old ones and built new ones), then up again through a pass in northern Xinjiang province to reach the inland sea centered on the Taklamakan Desert and Gobi Basin, known to Chinese earth scientists as the pre-historic Great Han Hai (Which wasn't pre-historic at all - READ: "What is Continental Shift.") As they scaled from sea to sea, they encountered a vertical rise of only a combined 2000 feet. After sailing to the end of the Great Han Hai, they sailed down the Yellow River to the sea. (That pass in Xinjiang is where the water later broke free and washed through eastern Kazakhstan and Siberia into the Arctic Ocean. This event is known by geologists as the Altai flood, but they mistakenly believe it was caused by glacial floods and date it to pre-historic times. The outlet for the sea that was in Central Asia was in north-central Kazakhstan.)

Fresh water seals in Lake Baikal, Russia

These inland seas later receded, leaving remnants in the form of the Caspian Sea, Aral Sea, Lake Balkhash, Lake Baikal and the many other lakes in central Asia, Russia and Mongolia.

Lake Baikal and the Caspian Sea still have seals that were trapped and have adapted to the ever increasing fresh water.

This was about the same time that Noah's granddaughter discovered Egypt, which was also still under water.

Abraham 1:23-24 The land of Egypt being first discovered by a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus, which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden;
When this woman discovered the land it was under water, who afterward settled her sons in it . . .
Read: What Did Noah's Granddaughter Discover in Egypt?

Noah and the Jaredites have
something in common

They eventually reached China's Yellow Sea and pitched their tents. They began to settle in, but “at the end of four years, the Lord came again unto the brother of Jared” and commanded him to build ocean-going barges so they can continue their journey, for "the Lord would not [allow] that they should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness, but he would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise."

They built eight barges but then the brother of Jared asked the Lord how he should light them. The Lord, in turn asked him, "What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?"

Have you ever wondered where the brother of Jared got the idea of making stones glow? Well, he got the idea from Noah and his ark.

The flood was recent for them, and details were fresh on their minds. An old Hebrew tradition explains how Noah managed to light his ark. "The ark was illuminated by a precious stone, the light of which was more brilliant by night than by day, so enabling Noah to distinguish between day and night."

The Kuroshio and North Pacific Currents end up as the
California Current along the west coast of North America.

When it was time to board the barges, common sense should tell us that there were a number of his group who chose not to risk the voyage and stayed where they were. Especially when you consider how perfect the weather and soil was in the Yellow River valley. It would be very hard to tear yourself away from there after settling in for four years.

Both groups built up societies with incredible similarities on either side of the Pacific - the proto-Chinese and the Olmec cultures.

Ether 6:5 And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind.

Ether 6:11-12 And thus they were driven forth, three hundred and forty and four days upon the water.
And they did land upon the shore of the promised land. . .

They probably landed somewhere along the Mexican Pacific shoreline. Over time they spread out over the entire Western Hemisphere from Alaska to Chile. It is likely that other people also migrated to the American Hemisphere during this time and contributed to the spread of people and culture exchanges. The other people probably arrived via an Atlantic crossing or around the Pacific rim and down through Canada.

Most lived a clan life as hunter gatherers or settled in small villages but a core group eventually settled in the Veracruz area and built up the comparatively advanced civilization that we know today as the Olmecs.

The Olmecs were the parent culture in ancient America and later influenced and mingled with the later arrivals: the Maya. Read: The Olmecs Arrived from Asia by Boat

It is my opinion that the barges were rectangular, not shaped like a walnut as is depicted in most LDS art.  I base this on the following verse: "Ether 2: the bottom thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the sides thereof were tight like unto a dish; and the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree." The mention of "sides" indicate that it wasn't like a walnut but more like a box with a pointed for and aft.

Alternate Theory

An alternate theory to the trapped inland seas is that the continents and sea basins took multiple generations to rebound to the current levels after the seafloors had risen and the continents had sunk during Noah's flood. This would be what the map would look like in that instance.

Source

Additional Reading:
The Transpacific Origin of Mesoamerican Civilization
Ancient Civilizations of North America
Lost Worlds of South America