The transplantation of Schwann cells (SCs) and olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG) have shown promise as therapeutic interventions for spinal cord injury (SCI) repair. The current study sought to identify novel sites of transplantation for these glial cells, as opposed to direct intraspinal cord injection, that would be less surgically invasive while permitting their migration to the location of SCI where they could facilitate repair. Adult female Fischer rats first received a moderate contusion of the thoracic (T8) spinal cord. One week later, cultured SCs and OEG, previously ex vivo transduced with lentiviral vectors encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) to allow their identification, were transplanted by injection (6×105 in media) into the following regions: the (i) injury epicenter, (ii) sub-dural space above the injury site, (iii) dorsal artery immediately rostral to the injury site, (iv) cisterna magna and, (v) lumbar sac. An additional strategy sought to utilize migration of endogenous SCs from the periphery into the injury site, by transducing them through direct injection of lentiviral-GFP into (vi) the dorsal roots innervating the injured spinal cord segment. A 2.5 cm segment of the spinal cord encompassing the injury epicenter was evaluated 10 days post-injection for migration of GFP+ glia to the injury site. Very few GFP-OEG were observed in the injured spinal cord in all transplantation paradigms, indicating either poor survival or migration. Similar results were also obtained with SCs, after transplantation into the cisterna magna, lumbar sac or into the sub-dural space above the injury site. However, transplantation of SC into the dorsal artery did allow modest migration to the injury site, though cell numbers were significantly less in comparison to direct intraspinal cord injection. A substantial number of GFP-SCs were observed within the dorsal columns and dorsal horn following transduction of the dorsal roots; from which they had probably they had migrated. As a control, direct injection of lentiviral-GFP into the injured spinal cord resulted in very little cellular transduction. In conclusion, harnessing the migratory response of endogenous SCs appeared to be the most efficacious of the alternative cellular delivery approaches examined and opens a new possibility for combinatory cellular and gene therapy for SCI repair. (ISRT; CRPF; The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis; NIH/NINDS # 09923)