El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail

Colonists from Mexico and Spain entered New Mexico from 1598 until about 1885 along El Camino Real. Many of the people living in the Southwest today are decendents of these early settlers along the trail, extending from Mexico City and the port city of Veracruz to Santa Fe and beyond, a distance of over 1,500 miles. Today, Interstate 25, from Las Cruces to Santa Fe, closely parallels the route of El Camino Real through New Mexico.

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail is a part of the United States National Historic Trail system. El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (Spanish for "The Royal Road of the Interior") was a 1600 mile (2560 kilometer) long trade route between Mexico City, Mexico and Santa Fe, New Mexico from 1598 to 1882. The 404 mile (646 kilometer) section of the route within the United States was proclaimed as a National Historic Trail on October 13, 2000. The trail is overseen by both the National Park Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail
www.nps.gov/elca/