![]() | El Camino Real de Tierra AdentroBrochure |
Brochure of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (NHT) in New Mexico and Texas. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
covered parks
The rough trail jolted nails loose from wagons
and carriages. Hundreds of cobbler’s nails,
farrier’s nails, and upholstery nails tell the story
of El Camino Real.
Spanish ranches and
villages are established
along El Camino Real
north of Isleta Pueblo,
including Pajarito and
Atrisco, independent
communities now
within the greater
Albuquerque area.
German trader
Bernardo Gruber dies
on the Jornada del
Muerto after fleeing
jail at Sandía Pueblo
and the cruelties of the
Spanish Inquisition.
On August 10th,
nearly two dozen
pueblos and their
allies revolt over the
Spanish practices of
extracting payments,
forcing conversion
to Catholicism, and
brutally suppressing
native religion. The
Spanish flee south and
the pueblos regained
their homeland for
12 years.
1706
•
1692
•
The Spanish
return to New
Mexico and
begin rebuilding
missions and
settlements.
La Villa de
Alburquerque
is established,
with today’s “Old
Town” and plaza
as its historic
center.
o R o m e r o, R i o G r a n d e P u r
ging
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o
Palace of the Governors
This modest, single-story adobe is
the oldest continuously occupied
governmental building in the US.
Construction began in 1610. Over the
years the palace has been converted
to an Indian Pueblo, housed Spanish
and Mexican governors, and served
as a Territorial Capitol. Since 1909
the palace has been the heart of New
Mexico’s State Museum system. The
palace sits on the north side of the
Santa Fe Plaza.
1680
•
es
Coronado Historic Site /
Kuaua Pueblo
When Francisco Vásquez de
Coronado arrived at Kuaua
Pueblo in 1540, he was leading
an expeditionary force of 300
soldiers and 800 Indian allies
on a march to locate the fabled
Seven Cities of Cibola. Instead
of the golden city they expected,
the Spanish found a thriving
multistory adobe pueblo with
more than a thousand villagers.
The Spanish capital
is relocated from San
Juan do los Caballeros
to La Villa Real de
la Santa Fe de San
Francsico de Asis
(Santa Fe).
1670
•
1739
•
The Tomé grant is
settled after the Rio
Grande shifts west,
creating an inner valley
branch of El Camino
Real through the Tomé
Plaza.
1760
•
Still a rough camp in
1760, the paraje of
Doña Ana is settled
as a town in the
1840s.
1789
•
San Elizario is
established as a
military presidio
to protect citizens
of El Paso del
Norte from
Apache attacks.
1807
•
US Lieutenant
Zebulon Pike illegally
enters Spanish
territory while
exploring the West.
Pike is captured
and taken down
El Camino Real to
Mexico City.
1821
•
Mexico gains its
independence from
Spain. The Santa Fe
Trail opens with the
arrival of William
Becknell’s trading
party from Missouri. El
Camino Real de Tierra
Adentro becomes
known as the
“Chihuahua Trail” for
traders moving goods
between Santa Fe and
towns to the south.
1846
•
Missouri
volunteers
under Colonel
Alexander W.
Doniphan defeat
a Mexican unit
at the Battle of
Bracitos, go on to
take El Paso del
Norte, and march
into Chihuahua.
1848
•
Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo establishes
American control
over about half
of Mexico’s lands,
including the lands
traversed by El
Camino Real north
of El Paso del Norte.
El Rancho de las Golondrinas
Today a living history museum
dedicated to telling New Mexico
Hispanic lifeways, this was once
an important paraje, or campsite,
on El Camino Real. About 15
miles from the Santa Fe Plaza, the
rancho offered travelers a chance
to freshen up before reaching the
capital city or to make repairs to
gear following a jolting journey on
the trail heading south.
1850
•
1853
•
New Mexico becomes
an incorporated,
organized territory of
the US on September 9.
American-Mexican
border is redefined
through the Gadsden
Purchase, which for
10 million dollars
brought nearly 19
million acres of
land between Texas
and California into
American hands.
1862
•
Battle of Valverde,
the first major
battle of the Civil
War in the South
west, takes
place north of Fort
Craig in February.
Fort Craig Historic Site
Fort Craig, active between 1854
and 1885, was home to Buffalo
Soldiers from the 9th Cavalry and
38th and 125th Infantry. Hispanic
New Mexican volunteers and militia
also served there, and Kit Carson,
Rafael Chacon, and Captain Jack
Crawford spent time there.
Fort Selden Historic Site
Fort Selden was established in 1865
to protect settlers and travelers in
the Mesilla Valley. Built on the banks
of the Rio Grande in the vicinity of
the Robledo paraje, this adobe fort
housed units of the US Army’s infantry
and cavalry. The fort remained active
until 1891, five years after Geronimo’s
capture and seven years after the
railroad had taken over El Camino
Real’s role in commercial freight and
transport.
J.R. Riddle, Courtesy Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (NMHM/DCA), 014523
1865
•
Fort Selden
is established
to protect
the Mesilla
Valley.
1878
•
The region’s
first operational
railroad, the
Atchison, Topeka &
Santa Fe Railway,
enters New Mexico
Territory by way
of Ratón Pass; the
rails reach El Paso,
Texas, in 1881.
1909
•
New Mexico
Territorial Highway
Commission
appropriates funds
to reengineer La
Bajada section of
El Camino Real for
automobile traffic.
1912
•
New Mexico
achieves
statehood;
State Highway 1
incorporates
many sections of
El Camino Real.
1926
•
US Route 66 is
built over parts of
El Camino Real in
central New Mexico,
including the steep
descent known as
La Bajada.
1935
•
New Mexico’s
roadside historic
markers begin to tell
the trail’s history.
In 1992 many of
the 82 El Camino
Real markers are
installed as part
of the Columbus
Quincentenary
Commemorations.
2000
•
El Camino Real
de Tierra Adentro
is added to the
National Trails System
on October 13.
2010
•
Sites on the El
Camino Real de
Tierra Adentro in
Mexico inscribed on
the World Heritage
List.
Signature page
from the Gadsden
Purchase treaty,
1853.
Cour
of the Go
tesy Palac e
vernors Ph
oto Archive
s (NM HM /D
CA), 045011
Source: Treaty Series #208
AO; Gadsden Treaty
between U.S. and Mexico,
December 30, 1853;
General Records of the U.S.
Government, Record Group
11; National Archives,
Washington DC.
Photo Credit: Paul Harden, El Camino Real Historic Trail Site
National Park Service
Bureau of Land Management
U.S. Department of the Interior
The historic route of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
Dieg
Keystone Heritage Park
Keystone Heritage Park, El Paso,
Texas, preserves a remnant of
the rich riverine environment of
the Rio Grande. The Archaic pit
house settlement, where small
bands foraged for wild plants and
animals in the rich marshlands
adjacent to the Rio Grande, is
4,000 years old.
Juan do Oñate leads
first Spanish colonists
up the Rio Grande,
blazing what would
become known as El
Camino Real de Tierra
Adentro. Onate settles
on Ohkay Owingeh
Pueblo lands, and the
first Spanish capital is
established at San Juan
do los Caballeros.
1643-1662
•
George C. Bennett, Courtesy Palace of the Governors Photo Archives
(NMHM/DCA), 055003
Francisco Vásquez
de Coronado and his
army of 1,100 camp
near the Tiwa pueblo
of Kuaua, near
modern Bernalillo.
1608–1610
•
Added to the National Trails System in October 2000 by the
US Congress, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National
Historic Trail extends 404 miles from south of El Paso,
Texas, to Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, New Mexico. Visit some
of the places featured here to experience the trail today.
ols
Aztec ruler Moctezuma
II surrenders Tenochtitlán
to Spanish conquistador
Hernán Cortés. Mexico
City is established on the
site of the Aztec capital.
1598
•
From 1598, when the first Spanish colonizing expedition
made its way up the Rio Grande, through the mid-1880s,
the wagon road was the main thoroughfare between
Mexico and New Mexico. The trail corridor is still very
much alive, more than 120 years after the railroad eclipsed
its commercial use.
ic h
1540
•
The trail fostered exchanges between people from many
backgrounds, including American Indians, Spaniards,
Mexicans, New Mexicans, and Americans.
The trail corridor nurtures a lively exchange of ideas, trade,
traditions, customs, and language between Mexico and
the American Southwest. Recognition as an international
historic trail commemorates a shared cultural and
geographic heritage. It helps eliminate cultural barriers and
enriches the lives of people living along El Camino Real de
Tierra Adentro.
N
F.
1521
•
4,000 BP
•
During the Archaic
Period people were
living in brush huts near
the floodplain of the
Rio Grande in what is
now Keystone Park.
Human occupation of
the Rio Grande Valley
dates to at least 12,000
years ago
Once travelers crossed the arid plains of northern
Chihuahua, they followed the Rio Grande Valley north into
New Mexico. Many of the historic parajes (campsites) and
early settlements created by the Spanish colonists became
today’s modern cities in the Rio Grande Valley. In the
United States, the trail stretches from the El Paso area in
Texas, through Las Cruces, Socorro, Belen, Albuquerque,
and Santa Fe to Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo), the first
Spanish capital in New Mexico.
rt
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro began in Mexico
City. The historic road runs from there to Queretaro,
Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas,
Durango, and Ciudad Chihuahua. As the “Royal Road of
the Interior Lands,” the road was the economic, social,
and political lifeline between Mexico City and its northern
provinces, and ultimately the wagon road brought Spanish
colonists into today’s New Mexico.
be
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro is the earliest European
American trade route in the United States. Tying Spain’s
colonial capital at Mexico City to its northern frontier in
distant New Mexico, the route spans three centuries, two
countries, and 1,600 miles. El Camino Real was blazed
atop a network of indigenous footpaths that connected
Mexico’s ancient cultures with those of America’s
Southwest.
Mesilla Plaza
Mesilla, New Mexico, began its life
following the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo in 1848. Mexican citizens
who did not want to become US
citizens after the Mexican-American
War traveled south to found Mesilla
in Mexican territory. Those same
settlers found themselves officially
part of the US after the Gadsden
Purchase of 1853, which made
Mesilla part of the US. The new town
became a commercial crossroads for
the Mesilla region. The Butterfield
Overland Stage stop was adjacent to
the plaza, and travelers on El Camino
Real could stop in Mesilla on their
way to Chihuahua and Santa Fe.
Tomé Hill
This distinctive conical hill has
served as a natural landmark
for travelers from prehistoric
times into the present.
Petroglyphs carved into its
flanks and crosses at the top
attest to its significance for
Indian peoples and Catholic
pilgrims alike.
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail
New Mexico, Texas
The Trail Today
our
t
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
The Trail Yesterday
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
IMPORTANT TRIP PLANNING INFORMATION
The red and white dashed line on the map shows a historic route, rather than
an actual visible trail that can be followed as a hiking trail. The map highlights
historic sites and communities that can be visited, along with trailheads that
provide access to segments of the original route that can be followed.
THE FIRST CAPITAL
In 1598 Juan de Oñate’s original colonizing party arrived at Ohkay
Owingeh Pueblo, named San Juan de Los Caballeros by the
Spaniards. By the winter of 1599, the colony had moved to an outlying
pueblo, Yunge, which they renamed San Gabriel. About 10 years later,
the capital was relocated once again to Santa Fe.
RIO ABAJO, RIO ARRIBA, AND LA BAJADA
In the Spanish Colonial period, New Mexico was
divided into two administrative units. These were
the Río Abajo, or lower river, and the Río Arriba, or
upper river. The dividing line was the escarpment
known as La Bajada, north of Cochiti Pueblo.
THE RIO GRANDE
The Rio Grande is New Mexico’s major river. Its
valley stretches the full length of the state and
provides the best agricultural land, the most
extensive wetlands and wildlife, and is the state’s
major travel corridor. Known to Tewa Pueblo
people as P’Osoge, or the big river, the Spanish
called it the Río Bravo, or wild river, as well as
El Río Grande del Norte, or the big river of the
north. The Rio Grande forms the international
border between Mexico and the United States
from El Paso downriver to the Gulf of Mexico.
THE CIVIL WAR IN NEW MEXICO
Confederate troops marched into New Mexico
Territory along the Camino Real in June 1861.
They battled Union forces and New Mexico
reserves at Valverde, and took both Albuquerque
and Santa Fe. The Confederates were turned
back at Glorieta Pass, east of Santa Fe, before
they could reach the gold and silver fields of
Colorado.
THE JORNADA DEL MUERTO
The “Dead Man’s Journey” is the longest of the
stretches on El Camino Real that the Spanish
called jornadas. The dead man of this 80-mile,
two-day trek, was Bernardo Gruber, who died
on the jornada while fleeing the Holy Office of
the Inquisition in 1670. Today the Point of Rocks
trail leads to a viewpoint overlooking the historic
route and the Yost Escarpment trail connects with
one of the most isolated stretches of the original
route.
PARAJES
The caravans made camps, known as parajes,
every 20 miles or so on the journey from northern
Mexico to northern New Mexico. These simple
campsites served travelers for centuries. Some
became the cities of today such as Albuquerque
and Socorro.
PRESIDIOS AND FORTS
The Spanish established a handful of presidios,
or forts, along the trail. El Paso del Norte and San
Elizario controlled and protected the settlements
near present-day Ciudad Juárez, and the
Presidio de Santa Fe protected the capital and
northern New Mexico. After 1846 the Americans
developed their own military system of posts
along the trail.
The historic route of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro,
showing three-quarters of the route located in Mexico. The
Act establishing the national historic trail directs the U.S.
to coordinate with counterparts in Mexico to establish an
international trail with complimentary preservation and education
programs in each nation.
Visiting the Trail Today
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail runs through the heart of the Rio Grande
Valley. The Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service administer the trail together to foster
trail preservation and public use. These agencies work in close partnership with nonprofit heritage conservation
groups, the Indian tribes and pueblos—whose ancestors met the first Spanish colonists—as well as state, county, and
municipal governmental agencies, private landowners, and many others. Trail sites are in private, municipal, tribal,
federal, or state ownership. Please ask for permission before visiting any trail sites on private lands, and check with
public sites for visiting hours and regulations. Follow trail signs to retrace El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro along
highways, streets, and backcountry roads.
For More Information
Trail Administrators
Bureau of Land Management
New Mexico State Office
P.O. Box 27115
Santa Fe, NM 87502-0115
(505) 954-2000
www.blm.gov/nm
National Park Service
National Trails Intermountain Region
P.O. Box 728
Santa Fe, NM 87504-0728
(505) 988-6098
www.nps.gov/elca