El Camino Real Offi cial Map and Guide El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail New Mexico, Texas Bureau of Land Management National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Fort Craig National Historic Site

Fort Craig is the largest of eight U.S. 

forts built along El Camino Real de 

Tierra Adentro during New Mexico’s 

Territorial Period. Between 1854 and 

1884, Fort Craig was home to Buffalo 

Soldiers of the 9th Cavalry and 38th 

and 125th Infantry, the predominantly 

Hispanic New Mexico Volunteers 

and New Mexico Militia, and historic 

fi gures including Kit Carson, Rafael 

Chacón and Captain Jack Crawford. 

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro is the earliest Euro-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 footpaths 

that connected Mexico’s ancient cultures with the equally 

ancient cultures of the interior West.

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro began in Mexico City. As the 

“Royal Road of the Interior Lands,” the frontier wagon road 

brought Spanish colonists into today’s New Mexico. 

Once travelers crossed the arid lands above Ciudad Chihuahua, 

they followed the wide 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 stretched 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. In Mexico, the historic road runs through Chihuahua, 

Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes, 

Guanajuato, and Querétaro to Mexico City.

The trail fostered exchanges between people from many 

backgrounds, including American Indians, Spaniards, 

Mexicans, New Mexicans, and Americans. 

From 1598, when the first Spanish colonizing expedition 

made its way up the Rio Grande, through the 1870s, the 

wagon road was the main thoroughfare between Mexico 

and New Mexico. The trail corridor is still very much alive, 

125 years after the railroad eclipsed its commercial use.

Coronado State Monument/

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. 

Fort Selden State Monument

Fort Selden was established in 1865 

to protect settlers and travelers in 

the Mesilla Valley. Built on the banks 

of the Rio Grande just north of the 

traditional parajes of Doña Ana and 

Robledo, this adobe fort housed units 

of the U.S. Army’s infantry and cavalry. 

The fort remained active until 1891, 

fi ve years after Geronimo’s capture 

and six years after the railroad had 

taken over El Camino Real’s role in 

commercial freight and transport. 

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.

Mesilla Plaza

Mesilla, New Mexico, began its life as 

a part of Mexico, a new community 

established for Mexican citizens who 

found themselves on the U.S. side 

of the border following the Treaty of 

Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1846. Those 

same settlers found themselves back 

in the U.S. again after the Gadsden 

Purchase of 1853. The new town 

became a commercial crossroads for 

the Mesilla Valley. The Butterfi eld 

Overland Stage stop was one block 

from the Plaza, and travelers on El 

Camino Real could stop in Mesilla on 

their way to Chihuahua and Santa Fe. 

Palace of the Governors

This modest, single-story adobe is 

the oldest continuously occupied 

governmental building in the U.S. 

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.

Courtesy P laace of t h Ge overnors Photo Archives (NMHM/DCA), 045011

Tomé Hill

This distinctive conical hill has 

served as a natural landmark 

for travelers from 

prehistoric times 

into the present. 

Petroglyphs 

carved into 

its fl anks and 

crosses at the 

top attest to its 

signifi cance for 

Indian peoples 

and Catholic 

pilgrims alike. 

Archaic pit house village 

is established at edge 

of the Rio Grande, 

now in Keystone Park. 

Prehistoric occupation of 

Rio Grande Valley dates 

back to at least 12,000 

years ago.

4,000 BP

•

Aztec ruler Moctezuma II 

surrenders Tenochtitlán 

to Spanish conquistador 

Hernán Cortés. Mexico 

City is established on the 

site of the Aztec capital.

1521

•

Francisco Vasquez de 

Coronado and his army 

of 1,100 camp near the 

Tiwa pueblo of Kuaua.

1540

•

Villa de Santa Fe is 

established, relocating 

the Spanish capital 

from San Juan de los 

Caballeros, on Ohkay 

Owingeh Pueblo lands.

1608–1610

•

Juan de Oñate leads 

fi rst Spanish colonists up 

the Rio Grande along El 

Camino Real de Tierra 

Adentro. The caravan 

starts with 83 laden 

carts. By the six month 

journey’s end, only 61 

carts remain with the 

column of 129 soldiers, 

their families, and thousands of stock animals. 

The column traveled as 

fast as a pig could trot.

1598

•

German trader Bernardo 

Gruber dies on the Jornada 

del Muerto, fl eeing jail at 

Sandia Pueblo and the 

Spanish Inquisition.

1670

•

1680

•

Spanish return 

to New Mexico, 

rebuild missions 

and settlements.

1692

•

Villa of Albuquerque 

is established, with 

today’s “Old Town” 

and Plaza as its 

historic center.

1706

•

1739

•

San Elizario is 

established as a 

military presidio to 

protect citizens of El 

Paso del Norte from 

Apache attacks.

1789

•

U.S. Lieutenant Zebulon 

Pike illegally enters 

Spanish territory while 

exploring the West. 

Pike is captured and 

taken down El Camino 

Real to Mexico City.

1807

•

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.

1846

•

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.

1848

•

New Mexico becomes an 

incorporated, organized 

territory of the U.S. on 

September 9, 1850.

1850

•

American-Mexican border 

is redefi ned through the 

Gadsden Purchase, which 

brought a strip of land 

from Texas to California 

into American hands, 

29,142,400 acres for 

$10 million.

1853

•

Battle of Valverde, 

fi rst major battle of 

the Civil War in the 

Southwest, takes 

place north of Fort 

Craig, February 1862.

1862

•

Fort Selden 

is established 

to control the 

Mesilla Valley.

1865

•

El Camino Real 

de Tierra Adentro 

is added to the 

National Trails 

System on October 

13, 2000.

2000

•

El Camino Real de 

Tierra Adentro Trail 

Association is formed.

2003

•

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.

1643-1662

•

Mexico is freed from 

Spain. 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 through Santa Fe 

from the eastern U.S.

1821

•

Photo: Paul Harden, El Camino Real International Heritage Center

Signature page 

from the Gadsden 

Purchase treaty, 

1854.

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 Building, 

Washington DC.

1760

•

New Mexico 

Territorial Highway 

Commission 

appropriates funds 

to re-engineer La 

Bajada section of 

El Camino Real for 

automobile traffi c.

1909

•

New Mexico 

achieves statehood; 

State Highway 1 

incorporates 

many sections of 

El Camino Real.

1912

•

U.S. Route 66 is 

built over parts of 

El Camino Real, 

including the steep 

descent known as 

La Bajada.

1926

•

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.

1935

•

The trail corridor nurtures a lively exchange of ideas, 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.

Added to the National Trails System in October 2000 by the 

U.S. Congress, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National 

Historic Trail extends 404 miles from El Paso, Texas, to Ohkay 

Owingeh Pueblo, New Mexico. Visit some of the places 

featured here to experience the trail today.

El C i R l d Ti Ad t i

The historic route of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro 

George C. Bennett, Courtesy Palace of the Governors Photo Archives(NMHM/DCA), 055003

1878

•

The region’s fi rst 

operational railroad, 

the Atchison, Topeka 

& Santa Fe Railway, 

enters New Mexico 

Territory by way of 

Raton Pass; the rails 

reach El Paso, Texas, 

in 1881.

J.R. Riddle, Courtesy Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (NMHM/DCA), 014523

The rough trail jolted the nails loose from wagons and 

carriages. Hundreds of cobbler’s nails, farrier’s nails, and 

upholstery nails tell the story of El Camino Real.

Still a rough camp in 

1760, the paraje of Doña 

Ana is settled as a town 

in the 1840s.

On the night of August 

10, 1680, nearly two 

dozen Pueblos revolt over 

the Spanish practices of 

extracting tribute, forcing 

conversion to Catholicism, 

and brutally suppressing 

Native religion. This act 

of resistance against 

European colonists 

regains the Pueblos 

their homeland 

for 12 years.

onists

Pueblos

nd

.

Diego Romero, Roi Grande Purg ni g, Courtesy Robert .F N ci oh sl

Texas

Arizona

M

Oklahoma

A

L

Sonora

Chihuahua

Durango

Jalisco

Sinaloa

Zacatecas

G

Tamaulipas

Coahuila De

Zaragoza

Nuevo

Leon

Puebla

Nayarit San Luis Potosi

Mexico

G Hidalgo uanajuato

VeracruzBaja California Sur

ja California Norte

Michoacan

Colima de Ocampo

Morelos

Queretaro de Arteaga

Tlaxcala

Aguascalientes

Distrito Federal

Pacific Ocean

Sea

of

C t or ez

G lf u of

Ohkay Owingeh

(San Juan Pueblo)

Santa Fe

Mexico City

El Rancho de las Golondrinas

Today a living history museum 

dedicated to colonial New 

Mexico, 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 

shake-down journey on the trail 

heading south.

The Tomé grant is settled after the Rio Grande 

shifts west, creating an 

inner valley branch of El 

Camino Real through the 

Tomé Plaza.
io Grande

S

t

F

Española

San Idlefonso Pueblo

Tesuque Pueblo

Pojoaque Pueblo

Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo /San Juan 

Santa Clara Pueblo

San Gabriel

New 

Mexico

Mexico Texas

Santa Fe

THE FIRST CAPITALIn 1598, Juan de Oñate’s original colonizing party was welcomed at Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, christened “San Juan de Los Caballeros” by the Spaniards. By the winter of 1599, the colony had moved to an outlying pueblo, Yungue, which they renamed “San Gabriel.” In 10 years the capital was relocated once again to Santa Fe.

RIO ABAJO, RIO ARRIBA, AND LA BAJADAIn 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 

Jornada del Muerto brochure back/outside El Camino Real Offi cial Map and Guide El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail New Mexico, Texas Bureau of Land Management National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior