This protocol describes the methods used to trace and enable morphometric quantification of vagal afferent neurites in the rat stomach. A mixture of dextran conjugates was injected into the nodose ganglia of young adult Sprague-Dawley rats and after a survival period of 14 days for optimal tracer transport, stomachs were removed and processed as whole mounts. ABC-DAB was used to create a permanent gold-brown stain of all labeled afferent neurites. Subgroups of samples were also counterstained with either the panneuronal chromogen cuprolinic blue or with nNOS antibodies and steel gray chromogen to label nitrergic cells.