El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail
Travel along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail to experience and learn from a complicated legacy of 300 years of conflict, cooperation, and cultural exchange between a variety of empires—European and non-European alike.
You can visit many sites along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail over the 404-mile U.S. historic route (with thousands of additional miles in Mexico) that crosses New Mexico and Texas.
- Arts and Culture
- Theater
- Auto and ATV
- Scenic Driving
- Hiking
- Museum Exhibits
- Architecture and Building
- Archeology
- Arts
- Photography
- Colonization and Settlement
- Commerce
- Trade
- Explorers and Expeditions
- Forts
- Religion and Spirituality
- Missions
- Wars and Conflicts
- Mexican War
- Trails
Kuaua Ruin in Coronado Historic Site, Bernalillo, New Mexico
The Tiwa pueblo of Kuaua lies in ruin at Coronado Historic Site. The site includes a rebuilt kiva that displays reproductions of original murals adorning its walls. Be sure to go to the visitor center where some of the original murals are displayed.
El Rancho de las Golondrinas, La Cienega, New Mexico
El Rancho de las Golondrinas was a historic paraje (stopping place) along El Camino Real. “The ranch of the swallows” dates from the early 1700s, and is now being used as a living history museum.
Jornada del Muerto, County Roads A013 & E070, Sierra & Doña Ana Counties, New Mexico
Walk in the footsteps of settlers from the 1600s who had to walk along this dreaded yet unavoidable section of El Camino Real: Jornada del Muerto or Dead Man’s Journey.
Fort Selden Historic Site, Radium Springs, New Mexico
Fort Selden was built near the town of Las Cruces in 1865 and housed troops for 25 years. The visitor center offers exhibits on frontier military life during the fort’s heyday and the grounds are self-guided.
Presidio Chapel of San Elizario, Mission Trail, El Paso, Texas
Spanish troops built a presidio (fort) and chapel at this site during the 1780s to protect settlements in the lower Río Grande Valley downstream from El Paso, Texas.