Old Spanish National Historic Trail
Details: Follow the routes of mule pack trains across the Southwest on the Old Spanish National Historic Trail between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California. New Mexican traders moved locally produced merchandise across what are now six states to exchange for mules and horses.
Due to the length of Old Spanish National Historic Trail, be sure to consult local weather sources for the region you'll be visiting. Check out the forecast with the National Weather Service and search for the area you'd like to visit: weather.gov
Directions: You can visit many sites of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail over the 2,700-mile historic route that crosses 6 states.
Agua Mansa Pioneer Cemetery
Antonio Maria Lugo and Juan Bandini established the San Bernardino and Jurupa ranchos on former Mission San Gabriel property in the 1830s. By offering land, they convinced a group from Abiquiu, New Mexico, to travel along the Old Spanish Trail and settle on the upper Santa Ana River and serve as a buffer against raiders and outlaws along the trading route from Santa Fe to Los Angeles. The emigrants first colonized Politana on the Rancho San Bernardino in 1842. Ten of these families, led by Lorenzo Trujillo, moved from Politana to 2,000 acres on the “Bandini Donation” on the east side of the river, on the northern boundary of the Jurupa Rancho. This village was known as “La Placita de los Trujillos”, later called La Placita. A second group moved to the west side of the river at Agua Mansa, and by 1845 the twin communities were firmly established. Farmsteads were laid out, an extensive irrigation system was dug, and grapes, grain, vegetables, and fruit trees were planted. Horses, sheep, and cattle were pastured on the mesa to the southeast, at present-day Riverside.
Agua Mansa flourished until January 1862, when a great flood filled the Santa Ana River from bluff to bluff and destroyed the west bank community, leaving only the cemetery, the chapel, and Cornelius Jensen’s adjoining store, built in 1854. Most of the homes in La Placita were also damaged or destroyed. Although rebuilt, the farming community never regained its importance. The coming of the railroad, the rise of the cement industry, and the expansion of the citrus industry drew people away from these two farming communities. La Placita was a recognized community of Riverside until 1926. The Trujillo cantina closed in World War II, and the last burial in the cemetery occurred in 1963.
La Placita’s first church was a brush-covered enramada (bower or arbor). A permanent adobe church was built near the river bank in 1852; it collapsed in quicksand the day after the last row of adobe bricks was placed. Work on a third church, this time on the Agua Mansa side of the river, started immediately. The 11′ by 58′ chapel was completed in 1853 and dedicated in 1857 as “San Salvador”. The chapel withstood the 1862 flood, although the water rose to its steps. In fact, the ringing church bell alerted the Agua Mansans to the impending flood, and all escaped without loss of life. In 1867, however, the parish was moved to San Bernardino, and by 1883 the chapel stood abandoned and crumbling.
Site Information
Location (2001 Agua Mansa Rd, Colton, CA 92324)
The cemetery sits on a hill in an area now zoned for industry. The site is green in the wet winter months and dusty and brown during hot summers. A replica chapel sits at the northwest corner of the site and a circular drive encompasses the burials. There are approximately 2,000 people buried at the site, but only a few hundred headstones remain.
Safety Considerations
Alfred Bergere House (Georgia O’Keeffe Research Center)
One of two surviving Ft. Marcy officers’ quarters built around 1871, it became a 10-day vacation home for former President Ulysses S. Grant and his family in 1880. Bought in 1904 by Bergere, the England-born son of a wealthy Italian shipping magnate, the 7-room home got a full second floor and Pueblo Revival Style makeover in 1926. It stayed in the family until 1975. Only the central hallway’s cherry wood staircase and one fireplace remain from the old Santa Fe Trail days.
Site Information
Location (135 Grant Ave. Santa Fe, New Mexico; this is currently the site of the Georgia O’Keeffe Research Center.)
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
Amargosa Canyon
The China Ranch Trail in Amargosa Canyon provides access to a network of hiking trails along Willow Creek and the Amargosa River—the beating heart of the Amargosa Basin where perennial streams support some of the best migratory bird habitat in the southwestern United States. experience to exquisite natural beauty and rich cultural history of the Amargosa River. Look carefully to find evidence of the people who called this region home. You will follow the same path as those early explorers who came on the Old Spanish and Mormon Trails. Along the trail there are interpretive signs to guide your walk into this natural cultural gem of the Amargosa.
Site Information
Location (near Tecopa, California)
This site is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
The trail is a 3.0 mile loop at a mild grade with even, hard-packed gravel. There is a possible, seasonal stream crossing to access the slot canyon trail at the top of the loop.
Safety Considerations
Big Rock Candy Mountain Bike Trailhead
The Big Rock Candy Mountain Loop Trail goes south through Marysvale Canyon and back through Long Valley. The portion through Marysvale Canyon is paved until you reach the Whistle Point Trailhead near the big Rock Candy Mountain Resort, where many amenities are available. From there the rest of the trail is unpaved trail and dirt roads until you return to the paved portion further north at the highway 89. ATVs are prohibited on the paved section but are allowed on the historical unpaved portion.
Back in the early to mid-1800s, traders along the Old Spanish Trail reached a difficult decision when they approached this section of trail. They had to decide to take Long Valley or Marysvale Canyon, both having advantages and disadvantages. The canyon followed the river, which was a crucial resource for travelers and their mules but was extremely difficult to pass due to the thick vegetation and rushing water leaving little space for travel. Long Valley was open and easier to traverse but was longer and lacked water. Ultimately the pack mule caravans chose Long Valley because they could rejoin the river after only a day.
The mountain itself was named after the song by Harry McClintlock in 1928. Known for its interesting caramel yellow color and beauty, this cluster of hills was named after a group of early Utah residents, who after hearing the song, placed a sign at the base where the Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort sits today. The same group named a nearby spring “Lemonade Spring,” which name has also stuck and is now a local popular spot.
Site Information
Location (2727-2747 Sevier Hwy, Sevier, UT 84766)
The trailhead is in Sevier, Utah, right next to highway 89. This section of the Old Spanish Trail follows the Northern route as pack mule traders traded good between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California. The trailhead has ample parking and restrooms, along with a trail sign and other interpretation providing information about the old railroad that used to run through the canyon.
The paved path heads south through Marysvale Canyon and is five miles long. It is mostly downhill and is rated as easy. It follows right beside the river and provides a cool breeze and shade from the canyon walls depending on the time of day. Grasses, shrubs, and trees surround you for most of this portion of the trail. As you head down the path you can see an old tunnel that was used for the railroad but has now since been abandoned.
The unpaved portion begins at the Whistle Point Trailhead near the Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort. This path is 19 miles long, rated as moderate to strenuous, and offers a harder challenge than the paved portion. The valley provides a more open space allowing for a wider viewshed of the area, especially at the valley overlook point indicated on the map. Vegetation is sparser here due to lack of abundant water, but shrubs and cottonwood trees are still prevalent.
Safety Considerations
Cajon Pass
Cajon Pass is a mountain pass between the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains and the route of the Old Spanish Trail. This important box canyon has been used by thousands of years as a passage from the Mojave Desert to the Los Angeles Basin. It is currently grouped with Cajon Summit to describe the area where a vital artery of the California interstate system, Interstate 15, descends into Los Angeles, after traveling east from Las Vegas. The Interstate 15 corridor through this area also serves as a part of the mother road, Route 66.
During the Old Spanish Trail days, travelers who were exhausted after navigating Cajon Pass would luckily stumble upon the homestead of Isaac Slover and his wife, María Bárbara Aragón Slover, who regularly assisted travelers on the Old Spanish Trail. Isaac opened his smokehouse and supplied the famished travelers with bacon and squashes, a feat of generosity that seems to have been a regular occurrence. New settlers found that the Slovers would help them survive until their own crops had been planted and harvested.
The Mexican government was beginning to grow weary of outsiders, but Slover's eventual marriage to María Bárbara Aragón, his conversion to Catholicism, and his acceptance of Mexican citizenship provided him with the means to trap and trade freely along the Old Spanish Trail. They relocated to California's San Bernardino Valley in 1837, and--along with other New Mexican emigrants--founded the communities of Agua Mansa and La Placita de los Trujillos in the 1840s.
Pacific Crest Trail
The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) traverses through Cajon Pass, with a section that parallels the Old Spanish Trail. This is a great opportunity to hike a portion of the trail, but should only be attempted by experienced hikers. Access is via Elliot Ranch OHV Road 3N22. Please contact the San Bernardino National Forest for more information.
Site Information
Location (Cajon Pass is at the head of Horsethief Canyon, traversed by California State Route 138 (SR 138) and railroad tracks owned by BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. The Cajon Summit corridor, which includes Interstate 15, is near Cajon Pass, and the trail passes under the Interstate, and west of the Interstate into the Los Angeles basin.)
Safety Considerations
Canon Largo ATV Trailhead
When visiting Largo Canyon, visitors may find historical Puebloan sites, historic Navajo settlements, and early 20th century small-scale ranch and farm homesteads. These homesteads represent some of the last humans to occupy this canyon. During the late 19th century to early 20th century, this canyon had approximately 200 known residents. This population was primarily Spanish Americans, but Anglo Americans and Native Americans also lived in this canyon. The population, which survived off livestock and small-scale vegetable farming, did not last through the economic turmoil caused by the Great Depression.
In its peak, alongside the homes that can be found today, this community had a small church, school, cemetery, and trading post. The trading post proved somewhat valuable to those traveling past the canyon between the San Juan region to Abiquiu or Santa Fe, New Mexico. Haynes Trading Post was opened by two brothers somewhere between 1875 and 1908. While the post was abandoned in the late 1920s, the structure is still somewhat intact today.
Today you can see several rooms that were used as living quarters, storage space, and animal containment areas. Near the trading post, visitors can find the remains of Navajo Dwellings, known as hogans, and sweat lodges which were used by those operating and running the post. Largo Canyon is also where Armijo and his men camped while traveling through to meet the San Juan River.
Site Information
Location (Near Counselors Trading Post on US 550, approximately one hour south of Farmington or one half hour north of Cuba, NM.)
- Canon Largo: 36.4794, -107.5278
- Haynes Trading Post: 36.2709, -107.4270
- Boca la Canon Largo: 36.3136, -107.4235
Roads are rough and can be impassable when wet. Visit the BLM office in Farmington to obtain information, check road conditions, and get maps for your journey.
Safety Considerations
Cerro Summit
The Cerro Summit Recreation Area is a 110-acre property owned and managed by the City of Montrose, CO. It is managed as open space and is open year-round. Enough snow falls in the winter to support sledding, cross-country skiing, and family style downhill skiing and snowboarding. In recent years a trail system has been developed for hikers, runners and mountain bikers.
The Old Spanish National Historic Trail passes directly through the trail system, on the south side of Highway 50.
Site Information
Location (The Cerro Summit Recreation Area is 13 miles east of Montrose along highway 50; the recreation area is just south of the summit off of County Road P 77. Other than 3 small parking areas and a few trails the property is undeveloped)
The landscape is wild, hilly and dominated by the mountain shrub plant community, open sage flats and grasslands. Wildlife such as elk and deer frequent the area; black bear have been seen on occasion. It is a great place for birding. Traveling across a natural landscape has inherent risks so proceed with caution.
The area has no facilities or services so dispose of human waste properly and pack out your trash. Fishing is now allowed at the reservoir, with your Colorado fishing license.
Safety Considerations
Colorado Welcome Center, Fruita
The Colorado Welcome Center (Fruita) contains information on the Old Spanish Trail that went through Colorado and the areas the travelers rested in Colorado. The following sites area in the area surrounding the Colorado Welcome Center and are great opportunities to explore the trail closer. For more information about these sites, please contact or visit the Colorado Welcome Center.
The Colorado River Front Trail allows visitors to explore the same corridor which Old Spanish Trail travelers used to by walking or cycling on the established paved path.
The Walter Wildlife Center's location along the Northern Route of the Old Spanish Trail provides the opportunity for visitors to view wildlife historic travelers may have encountered in the Colorado River Corridor of Western Colorado.
Las Colonias Park has been an influential and important area throughout Grand Junction’s history, because of its’ proximity to both rivers, the modern-day park and its surrounding area would have historically been used to develop the Northern Branch of the Old Spanish Trail.
River Crossing / Eagle Rim was once an area that many explorers crossed through the northern route and now it’s modern-day park.
Site Information
Location (340 Hwy. 340, Fruita, CO 81521)
Safety Considerations
Courthouse Rock Campsite
The area near Courthouse Rock served as a reliable campsite for Old Spanish Trail traders. This area offered feed, water, and protection from the elements and potential threats. It was also a halfway point between two other water sources, the Colorado River and Floy Wash. Other groups, including Native Americans and the Elk Mountain Mission of 1855, also traveled through and camped here.
Site Information
Location (Courthouse Rock Campground, Moab, Grand County, Utah 84532.; 38.72034580, -109.73453320)
The Courthouse Rock Campground is located just off of U.S. Highway 191 in Grand County, UT, about 15 minutes from Arches National Park. From the Highway, take Mill Canyon Road to Cotter Mine Road.
The Courthouse Rock Campground will be on your right.The road to the site is bladed. The landscape is open, dry, and hilly. Upon arriving at the campground you will see large hills and rock formations.
Amenities
The site offers parking, restrooms, a dumpster, units for RV/trailer parking, wayside interpretation for the Courthouse Rock Silhouettes and trail kiosk information for the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite.
Safety Considerations
Curecanti National Recreation Area, the Old Spanish Trail
As you travel on Highway 50, past the Curecanti National Recreation Area, you will reach the Cimarron Visitor Center and Historic Cimarron. The Old Spanish Trail mirrors the Highway in this area, and passes through the National Recreation Area near the visitor center.
Stop here for information and to visit the Morro Point Dam overlook.
Site Information
Location (Cimarron, Colorodo, west of Gunnison, Colorado on Highway 50)
Safety Considerations
Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area
The Old Spanish National Historic Trail passes through the eastern part of Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area (NCA), which comprises 210,172 acres of protected public lands, and includes the 66,280-acre Dominguez Canyon Wilderness.
Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area was designated by Congress in 2009 by the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act. Known for its breathtaking scenery, Dominguez-Escalante NCA is a fine example of the spectacular canyon country of the Uncompahgre Plateau. Red-rock canyons and sandstone bluffs hold geological and paleontological resources spanning 600 million years, as well as many cultural and historic sites.
Site Information
Location (in western Colorado in Mesa and Delta counties. Multiple access points)
The Escalante, Cottonwood, Little Dominguez and Big Dominguez Creeks cascade through sandstone canyon walls that drain the eastern Uncompahgre Plateau. Unaweep Canyon on the northern boundary of the NCA contains globally significant geological resources. Elevations in the NCA are approximately 4,800 to 8,200 feet.
Nearly 30 miles of the Gunnison River flow through Dominguez-Escalante NCA, supporting fish, wildlife and recreational resources. A variety of wildlife call the area home, including desert bighorn sheep, mule deer, golden eagles, turkeys, elk, mountain lions, black bears, and collared lizards. There are 115 miles of streams and rivers in the NCA, and there is habitat suitable for 52 protected species of animals and plants.
Safety Considerations
Doña Tules’s Gambling Hall Site (Bokum Building)
Born in Sonora, Mexico, Doña Maria Gertrudes Barcelo operated her lavishly decorated saloon and gambling hall here from 1832-36 until her death. Reputedly the best monte dealer in Santa Fe, the red-haired, cigar-smoking “Doña Tules” soon grew wealthy. Scorned by many of the city’s residents, the business woman shrewdly welcomed the U.S. by funding its 1846 wartime expedition to Chihuahua, Mexico.
Note the street sign, Burro Alley. The street's narrow width hints at its historic past. It is said that wood for the people of Santa Fe was delivered to this street on the backs of burros.
Site Information
Location (142 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe, NM)
The site is occupied by commercial businesses, but the public can view the building and walk down Burro Alley.
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails:
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the
Santa Fe Trail, and the
Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
Doña Tules’s Home Site (Santa Fe County Courthouse)
Doña "Tules" Barcelo, who was reputedly the best monte dealer in Santa Fe, lived here in a one-story, flat-roofed, courtyard home. It was conveniently located just across the street from her saloon and gambling hall. Born around 1800-1811, she died here in 1852. The Pueblo Revival Style courthouse replaced it in 1940.
Site Information
Location (102 Grant Ave., Santa Fe, New Mexico.)
This is currently the site of the Santa Fe County Courthouse. The building can be viewed from the outside, but should only be visited for official business.
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
Edgar Hewett House (Museum of NM Foundation Office)
This surviving Fort Marcy officers’ quarters, once the Quartermaster’s home, was remodeled in the Pueblo Revival Style in 1916. Fort Marcy was built in 1846 and was the first in New Mexico Territory (and is the only fort left in the United States from the Mexican American War).
It became the lifetime home of the Edgar Lee Hewett, the Director of the Museum of New Mexico (in 1909) and School of American Research (1917). Hewett died in 1946 and his wife in 1960. After President Teddy Roosevelt gave downtown Ft. Marcy’s 17 acres to the city in 1904, the other 5 officers’ quarters (and military post buildings) were eventually razed.
Site Information
Location (116 Lincoln Ave., Santa Fe, New Mexico)
This is currently the site of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation office.
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument
The forty-four acres that comprise El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument commemorate the city's founding. In 1781, a diverse group of colonists—including many of African and Indigenous descent—marched nine miles from nearby Mission San Gabriel to found a new settlement on the site of the Gabrieleno village of Yangna. Although it boasted only 315 residents in 1800, Los Angeles has become one of the United States' biggest cities.
Throughout Spanish, Mexican, and early American rule, El Pueblo remained the heart of Los Angeles. It served as the western end of the Old Spanish Trail, and afterwards it hosted a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route. However, by the late 1800s, El Pueblo was no longer the center of the rapidly-growing city; however, it remained important, serving as the site of the city's original Chinatown and Little Italy neighborhoods.
Site Information
Location (622 N Main St. Los Angeles, CA 90012)
Like many Spanish cities, historic Los Angeles was organized around a plaza. Featuring a charming gazebo and numerous statues of historical figures, California's oldest plaza represents the heart of El Pueblo de los Angeles Historical Monument. A few hundred feet away lies the Olvera Street Marketplace, a densely-packed mix of shops, restaurants, museums, and galleries. Don't miss the Avila Adobe, one of the oldest buildings in Los Angeles County. Murals and 200-year-old fig trees are some of the other attractions.
Safety Considerations
El Santuario de Chimayo
El Santuario de Chimayo, a small shrine located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Chimayo, New Mexico, and near the path of the Old Spanish Trail, has been a place of worship since before its construction in 1813. For generations people of faith have traveled to the site of El Santuario to ask for healing for themselves and others, and to offer prayers of petition and of thanksgiving for favors received. Following a long tradition of miraculous shrines, El Santuario is now one of the most important Catholic pilgrimage centers in the United States and one of the most beautiful examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in New Mexico.
Today El Santuario de Chimayo, also known as Lourdes of America, attracts over 300,000 pilgrims from all over the Southwest and elsewhere each year. Thousands of pilgrims walk to El Santuario from Santa Fe and other starting points during Holy Week.
Pueblo Indians have inhabited the Chimayo area since the 12th century, long before the initial Spanish conquest of New Mexico. When they arrived, the Spanish committed to converting the natives to Christianity, which became a major point of friction between the Catholic Church and the American Indians. In 1680, the Pueblo Indians revolted temporarily ending Spanish commitment to the region.
The Tewa Indians named Chimayo as “Tsi-Mayoh,” after one of four sacred hills above the valley, which lies directly behind El Santuario de Chimayo. The Pueblo Indians believed that they shared their land with supernatural beings. The natives thought the healing spirits were to be found in the form of hot springs, which ultimately dried up leaving the healing earth. The Pueblo and Tewa used the site of El Santuario de Chimayo for healing long before Spanish occupation.
In 1693, led by Diego de Vargas, the Spanish returned to reconquer New Mexico. The Spanish regained control of the area, creating a perpetual flow of Spanish and Mexican settlers to northern New Mexico. The returning and newly arrived Hispanic families dispersed along the Santa Cruz River and in the village of El Potrero, the future site of the shrine. By 1805, commitment to a miraculous Guatemalan image of Christ crucified known as Our Lord of Esquipulas had become popular in El Potrero.
Devotion to Our Lord of Esquipulas originated at an early colonial shrine in Guatemala, at which the earth was said to be effective in curing illnesses. Franciscan friars spread commitment to this image of Christ crucified throughout Mexico and to New Mexico. The people of El Potrero passed on a series of legends concerning the apparition of Our Lord of Esquipulas from generation to generation in the Chimayo area. According to the most popular tradition, on the Holy Week night of Good Friday in 1810, Don Bernardo Abeyta, a member of the Penitentes, saw a light beaming out of one of the hills near the Santa Cruz River in Chimayo. He went to the spot and saw that the light was coming out of the ground. Digging with his bare hands, he found a Crucifix, which he immediately associated with Our Lord of Esquipulas. He left it there and a group of men went to notify the priest, Fray Sebastián Alvarez.
The priest set out for Chimayo and carried the Crucifix back to his church in Santa Cruz, placing it in the niche of the main altar. The next morning, the Crucifix was gone and found in its original location in Chimayo. This same process was repeated two more times, and the Crucifix always ended up back in its original location thus making it apparent that Our Lord of Esquipulas wanted to reside in Chimayo. Another legend claims that Don Bernardo Abeyta had a vision while plowing his fields that directed him to dig beneath his plow where he would find earth with great healing powers.
In 1813, on behalf of the residents of El Potrero, Abeyta petitioned the priest for permission to build a chapel dedicated to Our Lord of Esquipulas on what the people believed to be the site of the miraculous Crucifix or earth with healing powers. The miraculous healings grew so numerous it required replacing the chapel with the larger, current shrine in 1816. The healings started as a result of the miraculous earth or sand found under the shrine. It is said that the earth at Chimayo can be mixed with water to make mud and eaten or applied to the skin in order to heal a person of an ailment. Some people take vials of the sand with them as a remembrance of their pilgrimage to Chimayo.
(Adapted from the Latino American Heritiage Travel Itinerary)
Site Information
Location (On NM 76 (the High Road) in the town of Chimayo, NM)
El Santuario de Chimayo sits in the center of the small village of El Potrero, one of several settlements in the Santa Cruz Valley collectively called Chimayo. El Santuario de Chimayo is a well preserved small adobe church with twin front towers with belfries, wooden doors, a wall-enclosed garden, and an arched gate with a cross on top. The interior is a colorful mixture of Spanish and Indian decorations and styles. The nave of the church is decorated with original astonishing examples of 19th century Hispanic religious folk art, including several santos and religious frescoes. Behind the altar stands the miraculous statue of Our Lord Esquipulas. On the left side of the nave are two separate rooms.
El Santuario remained in the ownership of the descendants of Bernardo Abeyta until 1929, when the Spanish Colonial Arts Society in Santa Fe that writer Mary Austin, artist Frank Applegate and architect/preservationist John Gaw Meem headed, purchased it from the family and donated it to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.
Safety Considerations
Eliza Sloan Boarding House & Ft. Marcy HQ Building Sites (New Mexico Museum of Art)
In her published memoirs (1954; Land Of Enchantment), Santa Fe Trail traveler Marian Russell recalled her widowed mother, Eliza, operating a $45 a month boarding house here in 1852-54. Circa 1871 it was replaced by the 16-room Ft. Marcy HQ Building. The New Mexico Museum of Art, home today to Santa Fe artist Gerald Cassidy’s 1930 oil painting, End Of The Trail (1850; aka Santa Fe Plaza) replaced the old building in 1917.
Site Information
Location (107 W Palace Ave, Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
Ellsberg & Amberg Store Site (1st National Bank)
Westport, Missouri merchants Gustavus Elsberg and Jacob Amberg crossed the Santa Fe Trail in 1856, and opened the two-story Ellsberg & Amberg Building here in 1864. They parted ways in 1869, but their 26-room building lasted until 1917. When Santa Fe Trail land baron Lucien Maxwell founded this bank in 1870 and sold it in 1871 to Santa Fe law partners, Thomas Catron and Stephen Elkins, it was housed in the James Johnson Building, across the Plaza. In 1954, a former 1921-24 movie theater here was transformed into the Pueblo Revival Style bank building you see today.
Site Information
Location (62 Lincoln Ave., Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
Exchange Hotel Site (La Fonda)
William and Mary Dodson Donoho, who crossed the Santa Fe Trail from Missouri, operated an inn here known as Los Estados Unidos (spanish for United States) House in 1833-37. By 1847 it had become the Santa Fe House. By 1848 it was the U.S. Hotel, offering liquor and gaming. It became the Exchange Hotel in 1851. The one-story, flat-roofed, Territorial Style adobe hotel began losing clients after 1880, as more modern hotels arose. It was razed in 1919. The La Fonda inn opened in 1922. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway bought it in 1925 and leased it to Fred Harvey. In 1927 it underwent its first expansion, got its Pueblo Revival look, and was a Harvey House until 1968.
Site Information
Location (100 E San Francisco St., Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
Felipe Delgado House
A commercial building since 1980, this restored two-story adobe house, crowned by an Italian Style portico (entry porch) to its second floor front balcony, was built circa 1890 for Santa Fe Trail trader Delgado, who bought the land in 1877. The home stayed in his family until 1970.
Site Information
Location (124 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
Fort Marcy Ruins
Built in 1846, this U. S. fort was the first in New Mexico Territory (and is the only fort left in the United States from the Mexican American War). Built for 280 men, this irregularly shaped star fort was never garrisoned. Located on a hill 50 yards higher in elevation than the Plaza, its 14 cannons could have confronted an approaching Mexican army or suppressed a local uprising.
Site Information
Location (Old Fort Marcy Park/ Cross of the Martyrs; 6 blocks northeast of the Plaza.)
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
Fort Uncompahgre Interpretive Center
The original Fort Uncompahgre was a Central hub for trade and travel routes throughout the West, and was established a short distance from the confluence of the Compahgre (Uncompahgre) and Blue or Eagletail (Gunnison) Rivers. The Fort is a reconstruction of the original Fort Uncompahgre built by Antoine Robidoux in 1828. It was the first Anglo settlement in the area and built six years previous to Bent's Fort located along the Santa Fe Trail in southeast Colorado.
Today it's an Old Spanish Trail interpretive site where visitors can explore a reconstruction of Fort Uncompahgre and learn more about the Old Spanish Trail.
Site Information
Location (Located at the entrance to Confluence Park next to the Gunnison River, Delta, Colorado)
When you visit the Fort, you will literally walk back into the past. Authentic trade goods and piles of furs and animal hides fill several rooms. Every aspect is maintained as authentically as possible. You will see an actual trade room where local American Indians and trappers exchanged furs for guns, knives, beads, and other prized trade goods.
Fort Uncompahgre is also a Public Lands information center open Mon-Sat 9-5. Selling wood permits, park passes, and Christmas Tree permits.
Safety Considerations
Green River Gap
Between 1829 and 1848, pack mule caravans and travelers used the Old Spanish Trail as a trade route between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California, which were part of Northern Mexico at the time. Because of the particularly dry and difficult landscape of the Book Cliffs area, water was a crucial resource for travelers. Green River Gap became an alternate route to take as it could potentially provide water.
Though use of the Old Spanish Trail largely ended at the time of the Mexican American War, a few groups would continue to use the Green River Gap route. For example, the Loring Expedition, comprised of Col. William Wing Loring and over 200 troops, traveled through Green River Gap in 1858 to fight for the United States during the Utah War.
Site Information
Location (East Trailhead: 38.959, -109.910,-109.910) (West Trailhead: 38.972, -109.974.)
Green River Gap is located in Grand County, Utah off of Highway 6 between Green River and Cisco. The surrounding landscape is dry and filled with sagebrush and cottonwood trees. As you travel here, you’ll pass through parts of the San Rafael Swell, a large geologic area that has been uplifted and eroded over time.
The Green River Gap trail is a 5-mile one-way trail that could also serve as a quick out and back hike to view the scenery from the top of the hill. Open to both hikers and equestrian users, this trail would offer visitors a vicarious experience of traveling through the remote foothills of the Book Cliffs, a landscape which remains very similar to the one original trail travelers would have experienced on their journey. Because the West trailhead is not accessible to trailers, horseback riders and others with large vehicles will need to access the Gap from the East trailhead.
The difficulty of the trail is rated as moderate. It is fairly level, though there is no water or shade. A small pull-off is available near the interpretive sign for parking.
The John Wesley Powell River History Museum is located near to this site. Learn more about the history of southeast Utah and the lasting impact the Colorado and Green Rivers have had on the communities which grew along their paths.
Safety Considerations
Gregorio Crespin House (private residence)
Owned in 1747 by Gregorio Crespin, the house’s vigas (ceiling beams) date back to 1720. Owner Benito Roibal served in the Santa Fe militia in the mid-1860s and traveled the Santa Fe Trail as a soldier.
Site Information
Location (132 E De Vargas St., Santa Fe, New Mexico)
This is currently a private residence. Please be respectful and view from a distance.
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
Head Rock on the Old Spanish Trail
Head Rock was a landmark used primarily by the Gunnison Expedition of 1853 as they traveled across the western US. During this time, journeys in this area were more difficult because explorers had to rely on printed maps and the guidance of other travelers. To put it in perspective, imagine having to traverse a land you’ve never visited before without modern amenities like GPS or a smartphone. To prevent getting lost and stay on the right track, travelers would use unique landmarks, like Head Rock, to know they were on the right path, which in this case was the Old Spanish Trail. When they saw Head Rock, they knew to start heading west rather than continuing north. Given the climate and limited provisions you might have, a wrong turn could be disastrous if you strayed from the path to long.
Site Information
Location (Latitude: 39.122989 Longitude: -110.457154)
Head Rock is located in Emery County, Utah along the northern limits of the San Rafael Swell. It sits on a sandstone rock face that can clearly be seen from the Old Spanish Trail. The ‘head’ sticks out from the surrounding rock making it stand out. A large jutting rock resembles a nose, which seems to be the most prominent facial feature of Head Rock. Two eyes and a stern flat mouth consisting of natural horizontal lines from weatherization give the face a solemn expression.
The landscape surrounding Head Rock is very dry and filled with sagebrush and cottonwood trees. As you travel here, you’ll pass through parts of the San Rafael Swell, a large geologic area that has been uplifted and eroded over time, creating many valleys, canyons, mesas, and buttes that can be observed the further you venture in.
Getting to this area requires 4WD and high clearance at a minimum and is impassible during or after rain. Plan trips accordingly as this site is a remote one with no amenities. A small pull-off is available near the interpretive sign for parking. As you make your way to this site, you may find other cultural sites and evidence of Old Spanish Trail travelers. Stone culverts, railroad grades, and dugways can be found all through this area, particularly on the ATV trails.
Safety Considerations
Idol Rock on the Old Spanish Trail
Between 1829 and 1848, pack mule caravans and travelers used the Old Spanish Trail as a trade route between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California, which were part of Northern Mexico at the time. In 1853, Captain John W. Gunnison’s expedition traveled on parts of the Old Spanish Trail searching for a railroad route. This geologic feature was sketched and named by Richard Kern, a geologist from the expedition. The modern-day discovery of this sketch, and its use to find Idol Rock, helped verify the location of the Old Spanish Trail.
Site Information
Location (Latitude: 39.055000305 Longitude: -110.40100097)
Idol Rock is located in Emery County, Utah along the northern limits of the San Rafael Swell. It is a large and tall mass of sandstone, making it stick out significantly from its surroundings. It can be seen clearly from the Old Spanish Trail.
The landscape surrounding Idol Rock is very dry and filled with sagebrush and cottonwood trees. As you travel here, you’ll pass through parts of the San Rafael Swell, a large geologic area that has been uplifted and eroded over time, creating many valleys, canyons, mesas, and buttes that can be observed the further you venture in.
Getting to this area requires 4WD and high clearance at a minimum and is impassible during or after rain. Plan trips accordingly as this site is a remote one with no amenities. A small pull-off is available near the interpretive sign for parking. As you make your way to this site, you may find other cultural sites and evidence of Old Spanish Trail travelers. Stone culverts, railroad grades, and dugways can be found all through this area, particularly on the ATV trails.
Safety Considerations
James Johnson Building Site (Catron Block)
Overlooking the northeast side of the Plaza is the Italian-style Catron Block, built in 1891. Powerful lawyer, banker, and politician Thomas Catron occupied its second floor offices. It replaced Santa Fe Trail merchant James Johnson’s two-story adobe and wood-frame building, a Santa Fe Trail landmark built in 1847. In the 1870s, Johnson’s building housed Catron’s offices, the First National Bank, and the Santa Fe Daily New Mexican. Catron acquired it in 1881. The Catron Block stayed in the family until 1927.
Site Information
Location (62 Lincoln Ave, on the Santa Fe Plaza)
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
James Johnson House (El Zaguán)
When Santa Fe Trail trader James Johnson bought this adobe home in 1849, he expanded it to 19 rooms under a single, unifying zaguán (vestibule). Behind his Territorial Style home, Santa Fe Trail merchants kept their horses and oxen in his corrals before their return trip east.
Site Information
Location (545 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Today El Zaguán houses the Foundation office, exhibit area, and private apartments.
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
John Wesley Powell River History Museum
The Old Spanish Trail crossed the Green River where the small town of Green River sits today. This spot provided the safest crossing across the river and became the first established thoroughfare in Green River.
Site Information
Location (1765 E. Main Street, Green River, UT 84525)
Available Facilities/Exhibits
Interpretive panels on the history of the museum are located outside the museum under a shaded pavilion.
Safety Considerations
Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe
The Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe was built on a Mexican land grant (Rancho La Merced) given to Casilda Soto de Lobo in 1844. Unable to pay back a loan from English-born William Workman, she sold him the property in the early 1850s. Workman passed the property to his ranch foreman, Juan Matias Sanchez, and his son-in-law, Francisco P. Temple. Despite many changes in ownership, Sanchez lived in the adobe until his death in 1882; his family remained there until 1911, after which a series of ownership changes ensued. In 1972, the Scott family (who purchased the property in 1915) granted the adobe to the city of Montebello.
The adobe's clearest connection to the Old Spanish Trail is through William Workman. He was co-leader of the Rowland-Workman party, a group of Anglo Americans and New Mexicans who migrated to California on the Old Spanish Trail in 1841. Once he arrived, Workman helped challenge the rule of unpopular Governor Manuel Micheltorena; the new governor, Pio Pico, rewarded him by enlarging the rancho he shared with expedition co-leader John Rowland. Workman would later support the American takeover of California.
Like many of his fellow travelers in 1841, Workman prospered in California, acquiring land and influence in equal measure. However, an economic panic in the 1870s cost him his house and his fortune. He died in 1876.
Site Information
Location (946 N Adobe Ave, Montebello, CA 90640)
The adobe sits on a quiet street at the eastern edge of Montebello. It has been remodeled considerably, but some of the architectural touches--such as the portales (covered walkways) ringing the building--exemplify Spanish and Mexican architectural traditions.
Safety Considerations
Kokopelli's Trailhead, McInnis Canyon National Conservation Area
Some recreational trails within the McGinnis Canyon NCA trace routes that once made up the Old Spanish Trail. The Kokopelli trail is multi-use and stretches 142 miles from Loma, Colorado to Moab, Utah. The trail consists of a mixture of 4x4 roads, single track trails, and improved roads. Along the trail there are 8 campsites. A multiday trip requires extensive planning. As you bike along Kokopelli’s Trail, Mancos, Dakota, and Morrison Formations are all visible from the edge of the plateau which the trail parallels.
Located just below the Old Spanish National Historic Trail, the Hawkeye trail is a part of Kokopelli Loops within the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area. The area is popular for mountain biking, but is a great opportunity to get out on a trail and take a step back in time!
Site Information
Location (Near Grand Junction, Colorado, west on Interstate 70 about 15 miles)
From Grand Junction, travel west on Interstate 70 about 15 miles. Take the Loma exit (exit 15), then travel west on gravel frontage road south of the interstate. The trailhead is on the left.
Safety Considerations
La Castrense Site (Plaque)
The Spanish Colonial presidio (military garrison) chapel, Nuestra Senora de la Luz (Our Lady of Light), was built here circa 1760, and razed in 1859.
Site Information
Location (68 San Francisco St., on the south side of the Santa Fe Plaza, Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
La Parroquia Site (Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi)
Begun in 1869, this sandstone-block, neo- Romanesque Style church was never finished; its plans called for two 165-foot tall steeples and an 85-foot tall dome. It slowly enveloped La Parroquia (the parish church), a Santa Fe Trail landmark that was dismantled starting in 1884. In the north transept, a remnant of the early 1700s parish church, is a two-foot tall bulto (statue) of the oldest Marian figure in the U.S. It came here from Mexico in 1625. Hungary-born NYC sculptor Jeno Juszko’s seven-foot tall, bronze statue of Jean Baptiste Lamy honors the France-born cleric who arrived here in 1851. An energetic visionary, Lamy started a school for girls in 1853; a school for boys in 1858; and a hospital and orphanage in 1865. About 2,000 people viewed the statue’s 1915 unveiling.
Site Information
Location (131 Cathedral Place, Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
Late Night Trailhead
Mule trains, loaded with trade goods, crossed this mountain pass in the mid-1800s on their long journey between Los Angeles, California and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Though the going was rugged, the area’s streams and springs provided essential water sources to traders and livestock making the route passable. Today, visitors can experience a little bit of what this travel was like on the Old Spanish Trail as they hike, bike, and ride horseback through this picturesque, arid landscape.
Late Night Trailhead provides access to dozens of miles of trails that crisscross the mountain pass offering options for short walks or longer, more strenuous hikes. A large parking area is located along State Route 160/Pahrump Valley Highway, 15 miles west of its intersection with I-15. The entrance is marked with a sign and large, metal mule trail silhouettes. Visitors will find a restroom at the trailhead, as well as wayside exhibits that relate the story of the Old Spanish Trail.
Located in the 23,000-acre Cottonwood Valley Recreation Area of Red Rock Canyon, this spot is home to 35 miles of designated trail, more than 600 species of plants, desert tortoise, and wild horses and burros.
The area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), who remind you to help protect the cultural and natural resources of the area. The BLM is the largest administrator of public lands in the West. It adheres to the policy of multiple use, thereby providing recreational opportunities, protection for cultural sites, and the management of natural resources, including wildlife.
Late Night is one of several trailheads providing access to this trail system. For more information visit: Red Rock Canyon NCA
Site Information
Location (State Route 160/Pahrump Valley Highway, Las Vegas, NV 89123)
Travel 15 miles west on State Route 160 from its intersection with I-15/Las Vegas Freeway to reach the parking area.
- Bring drinking water. There is no water at the trailhead.
- Visit at cooler times of day and year. Summertime temperatures regularly surpass 100˚ F.
- The area is pet friendly. Please clean up after your pets.
- Practice “Leave No Trace”
Safety Considerations
Loretto Chapel (Chapel of Our Lady of Light)
This Gothic Revival chapel, started in 1873 and completed in 1878, was built by young French architect Projectus Mouly for the Sisters of Loretto. In 1855, Jean Baptiste Lamy moved the Loretto Academy here into a former hotel he bought in 1854, La Casa Americana (the American House). That two-story, pitched roof building stood here (next to the south side of the chapel) until 1882 when a two-story convent replaced it and a three-story girls’ school was built on the north side of the chapel. The convent and school were razed in 1971 to make way for the Inn at Loretto.
Site Information
Location (207 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico)
The chapel is famed for its 20-foot high, circular staircase, built in 1878. While the Lorretines insisted the builder was St. Joseph, recent evidence points to French master carpenter Francois-Jean Rochas.
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
Los Luceros
Over 1,000 years of the area’s diverse cultural history is on display to explore and discover at Los Luceros Historic Site. Indigenous, Hispanic, and Anglo-American cultures have come together here to shape not only the history, but the landscape as well. Situated along the Old Spanish Trail, mule trains, loaded with trade goods, passed by the Spanish outpost that once stood near the river, as they travelled between Santa Fe and Los Angeles.
Today visitors are welcome to discover the site’s unique history within the walls of the 19th century Hacienda, the centerpiece of the ranch. Hear the stories of the influential and inspiring people who have visited, or called this location home for more than 600 years. Enjoy beautiful stands of cottonwoods along the floodplain, and connect to the area’s rich agricultural history on display in the farmyard, orchards, Bosque and Acequia system preserved on the grounds.
Los Luceros is a fee site, managed by New Mexico Historic Sites, that welcomes visitors throughout the year with interpretive programs, special events, and to explore at their own pace.
Site Information
Location (253 Co Rd 41, Alcalde, NM 87511) From NM-68, turn west on County Road 48 which dead-ends at the entrance to Los Luceros Historic Site.
Safety Considerations
Magoffin-Fiske Home Site (La Fonda Parking Garage)
Santa Fe Trail bride Susan Magoffin and her husband, trail trader Samuel, lived here in a flat-roofed, four-room adobe home built before 1836, for five weeks in 1846. Here she continued writing in her diary, published in a 1926 book, Down the Santa Fe Trail & Into Mexico. Santa Fe attorney Eugene Fiske bought the home in 1881 and expanded it. The Fiskes sold the house in 1912. In 1949 it was razed to make way for the La Fonda’s first parking lot.
Site Information
Location (Located on the southweast corner of E San Francisco and Cathedral Pl., Santa Fe, New Mexico.)
This is currently the site of the La Fonda on the Plaza parking garage.
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
Mercure Brothers Store Site (La Plaza Galeria)
Quebec-born Santa Fe Trail trader Francois Aubry, whose enduring fame came in 1848, after racing on horseback across the Santa Fe Trail from here to Independence, Missouri in record time (five days, 16 hours) to win a $1,000 bet, died here in 1854 after a bar room argument with ex-newspaperman Richard Weightman. His friends, the Montreal-born Mercures, Joseph and Henri, tried to intervene, but Aubry’s knife wound was fatal.
Site Information
Location (70 E San Francisco St., on the south side of the Santa Fe Plaza)
Safety Considerations
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
Mission San Gabriel Archangel
The fourth Franciscan mission in California and the oldest building in Los Angeles County, Mission San Gabriel was founded in 1771--a decade before the nearby pueblo of Los Angeles. Its original location near the Whittier Narrows experienced frequent flooding, and in 1775 it moved to its present site closer to the mountains. Like other Spanish missions, San Gabriel was designed to convert Indigenous people to Catholicism and introduce them to other parts of European life. The missionaries stationed there relied upon the labor of neighboring Indigenous communities--most notably nearby Gabrieleno villages--to build the mission, harvest its crops, and tend to its livestock. San Gabriel became one of California's most productive missions, but at a tremendous cost; Indigenous neophytes faced violence, overwork, disease, malnutrition, and religious persecution on a regular basis. These factors spurred Indigenous leaders, including a Gabrieleno woman named Toypurina, to attempt a rebellion at Mission San Gabriel in 1785. A new exhibit, which opened in 2023, highlights Native perspectives on mission life.
In an era when Santa Fe's population dwarfed that of Los Angeles, Mission San Gabriel was one of the most important population centers along the Old Spanish Trail. Antonio Armijo visited the mission in 1829, during his first trip between Abiquiu and Los Angeles. A few years later, Mexico secularized its missions. Although clergymen remained in control at San Gabriel, much of the mission's land was distributed to nearby ranchers in the 1830s. Mission San Gabriel continued to provide nearby settlers with religious services, especially those in San Bernardino and Agua Mansa (which had small churches known as estancias, or outposts, to the mission). During this period, many Gabrielenos moved to the new pueblo of Los Angeles to seek work. Some Gabrielenos remained on the former mission lands, but they faced competition from Anglo settlers. Many of the church's buildings fell into disrepair after secularization, but efforts to restore them began in the early 20th century.
The city of Los Angeles and the mission maintain close ties, and every year descendants of Los Pobladores--the families that trekked from Mission San Gabriel to found Los Angeles in 1781--reenact this nine-mile walk at the western end of the Old Spanish Trail.
Site Information
Location (428 South Mission Dr., San Gabriel, CA, 91776)
Borrowing elements from a cathedral and former mosque in Córdoba, Spain, Mission San Gabriel appears almost like a fortress. Its espadaña is especially beautiful, featuring bells cast as early as 1795. The church's interior features stations of the cross thought to have been painted by Native neophytes in the 1820s.
Safety Considerations
Mojave National Preserve, the Old Spanish Trail
The Mojave Road, through Mojave National Preserve, is considered a branch of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Mojave Desert has a vibrant history. Before contact with the Europeans changed their world, the Chemehuevi lived on prickly pear, mesquite and roasted agave blooms and hunted deer and bighorn sheep. They resided in the Kingston, New York, and Providence Mountains west to Soda Dry Lake and south to the Whipple Mountains. Mojave tribal peoples were concentrated along the Colorado River and the Mojave trail became their main trading route.
When explorer Father Francis Garces traveled across the Mojave Desert, in 1776, he was met by members of the Mojave Tribe. Other intrepid explorers would follow Garces, including Jedediah Smith in 1826 and John Fremont in 1844. Concern abounded about tribal attacks on the mail carriers who traveled the Mojave Road. During the 1860s government outposts were established providing protection for the mail wagons.
During this same era, gold fever struck California. The General Mining Law of 1872 permitted individuals to stake a claim on an area of land where a mineral deposit was discovered. Copper, iron, gold and silver mines rapidly became established in the Mojave. In 1883, on the eastern side of the Providence Mountains, silver was discovered in the Bonanza King Mine.
Mojave's history is as varied and colorful as the individuals who staked their claim in the desert. Read more...
Site Information
Location (Mojave National Preserve is located in Eastern California. Our administrative headquaters are in Barstow. To reach the actual National Preserve, you will need to travel an additional 64 miles to reach the nearest entrance in Baker on Interstate 15 or 80 miles to reach the nearest entrance on Interstate 40 at Kelbaker Road.)
Kelso Depot Visitor Center
Originally opened in 1924 as a train station, Kelso Depot was renovated and reopened in 2005 a Visitor Center for Mojave National Preserve. Former dormitory rooms contain exhibits describing the cultural and natural history of the surrounding desert. The baggage room, ticket office and two dormitory rooms have been furnished to illustrate depot life during the first half of the twentieth century. A 20-minute orientation film is shown in the theater. Note: Kelso Depot is currently closed for repairs.
Safety Considerations
Mojave River Valley Museum
The museum is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the scientific, historical, and cultural heritage of the Mojave Desert. The facility offers more than 4,000 square feet of museum, including a Gift Shop and a Book Store that carries nearly 500 titles.
The Museum houses a series of displays and exhibits that portray the history of the Mojave River Valley from the arrival of Father Garces in 1776 on through pathfinders, pioneers, miners, railroads and the present space program.
The archive of local area newspapers dates back to 1911 and the photo collection contains over 20,000 photos.
(From the Mojave River Valley Museum)
Site Information
Location (270 E. Virginia Way, Barstow, CA 92311)
Safety Considerations
Montrose Public Lands Center
Uncompahgre Field Office
The Uncompahgre Field Office (UFO) manages nearly 900,000 acres of public land in BLM Colorado's Southwest District, including four river systems—the Gunnison, San Miguel, Dolores, and Uncompahgre. The topography ranges from lowland riparian along the Dolores River (at around 4,700 feet) to red rock desert to a moonscape of highly erodible Mancos Shale badlands to the piñon-juniper woodlands of the Uncompahgre Plateau. There are a variety of landscapes to explore the Old Spanish Trail.
Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area
Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area (GGNCA) was designated in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area Act of 1999. GGNCA is part of the Uncompahgre Field Office.
Montrose Public Lands Center - Visitor Center
The Visitor Center is a great place to get information about the area and how to explore the Old Spanish Trail. You will find helpful Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service staff that will help you plan your trip, answer questions, acquire any needed permits, and shop at the educational and area oriented gift store.
Site Information
Location (2465 S. Townsend Ave., Montrose, CO 81401)
Safety Considerations
Muddy Creek, Emery County
Between 1829 and 1848, pack mule caravans and travelers used the Old Spanish Trail as a trade route between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California, which were part of Northern Mexico at the time. River crossings were dangerous undertakings for Old Spanish Trail traders yet also vital for the water and resources they provided in the arid environment. This location along Muddy Creek became a river crossing for travelers on the trail. Because the river could be difficult to cross after heavy rainfall, travelers planned their journeys in such a way to avoid crossings at peak-flow times.
Site Information
Location (Latitude: 38.4028, -110.6929 Longitude: -110.6929)
Muddy Creek is located in Emery County, Utah. The landscape surrounding Muddy Creek is dry and filled with sagebrush and cottonwood trees. As you travel here, you’ll pass through parts of the San Rafael Swell, a large geologic area that has been uplifted and eroded over time, creating many valleys, canyons, mesas, and buttes that can be observed the further you venture in.
A small pull-off is available near the interpretive sign for parking. As you make your way to this site, you may find other cultural sites and evidence of Old Spanish Trail travelers.
The Rochester Rock Art Panel is a nearby site managed by the Bureau of Land Management. This Fremont Culture petroglyph panel predates the Old Spanish Trail travelers, and shows that people have been traveling through and living in this area for millennia.
Safety Considerations
Museum of Spanish Colonial Art
Santa Fe became a hub of international trade in the 1800s. Materials from European and U.S. manufacturers arrived from the east. Goods from central Mexican and South America arrived from the south. Products were traded at western ports for livestock and supplies. The exchange of Spanish, American Indian, Mexican, and U.S. cultures inspired uniquely New Mexican art. Preserved in the Stockman Collections Center to your left are examples of a blending of American materials and designs with traditional Spanish arts and crafts. Today's visitor can see the influence of the trails in the cultural practices and art in Santa Fe.
Site Information
Location (750 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, NM 87505)
Exhibits
The Spanish Colonial Arts Society collections were initiated in 1928. Today with 3,000 objects, the collections are the most comprehensive compilation of Spanish Colonial art of their kind. Dating from the Middle Ages to the New Millennium, the collections span centuries in art, place and time. Among the various media featured are santos (painted and sculpted images of saints,) textiles, tinwork, silverwork, goldwork, ironwork, straw appliqué, ceramics, furniture, books and more. All combined, the collections represent the artistic history and ongoing evolution of Hispano culture in New Mexico while firmly establishing its important place within the global arts landscape.
Available Facilities
The Pueblo Revival-style building was designed by renowned architect John Gaw Meem in 1930. The inside provides an intimate, homelike setting where visitors from around the world can view the collections and learn the fascinating history of Spanish colonial art worldwide.
Safety Considerations
Museum of the San Rafael
The Museum of the San Rafael tells the story of life in the San Rafael Swell throughout time. The swell is a geologic feature made up largely of great sandstone formations and winding gorges created by rivers. The museum’s exhibits include information on dinosaurs, Native American and early settler life, geology, and animals native to the area.
Between 1829 and 1848, pack mule caravans and travelers used the Old Spanish Trail as a trade route between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California, which were part of Northern Mexico at the time. The northernmost point on the trail lies near the museum. Travelers on the Old Spanish Trail venturing through this area veered north of the San Rafael Swell to avoid the swell itself.
Site Information
Location (70 N 100 E, Castle Dale, UT 84513)
The Museum of the San Rafael is in Emery County, Utah along the northern limits of the San Rafael Swell. It contains information pertinent to the area and is nearby the northernmost point of the Old Spanish Trail.
The museum is located in a mainly residential area, with other buildings nearby. As you travel here, you’ll pass through parts of the San Rafael Swell, a large geologic area that has been uplifted and eroded over time, creating many valleys, canyons, mesas, and buttes that can be observed if you venture further in.
Below are directions to the San Rafael Swell for those coming from both the north and south, respectively:
Parking at the museum can be found on the street in stalls located in front, including charging stations for electric vehicles. On the grounds of the museum are pavilions and benches for the convenience of visitors.
Safety Considerations
Museum of the West Old Spanish Trail North Branch
Located at the renovated C.D. Smith Warehouse at 5th and Ute Avenue. The Museum of the West houses exhibits on Western Colorado with a regional perspective. Come explore the life and times of the people who formed and shaped the area we now call Grand Junction.
In the Native American Gallery, you will see items used for daily living and hunting. Learn how the Mountain men traveled the Old Spanish Trail to trade and guide explorers, eager to chart the unknown West. “Ride” in a reproduced Mud Wagon Stagecoach from the 1880’s.
Take the elevator up the Tower for a fascinating, 360° view of the Grand Valley and the Old Spanish Trail. Exhibits provide information about the history of the Trail and the surrounding area.
The Old Spanish Trail, North Branch has a full and rich history dating back to the Native American trade and migration routes and continues to be of use today. Visitors can explore the trail by hiking, mountain biking, or on horseback. Mountain men traveled the Old Spanish Trail for trading and guiding explorers eager to chart the unknown West. Guests can learn more about The Old Spanish Trail at The Museum of the West and get their Passports stamped.
Site Information
Location (The North Branch trailhead can be accessed by the Orchard Mesa staging area (39.03266, -108.5249) or the Whitewater staging area. (38.9917, -108.4727) Museum of the West is located in historic downtown Grand Junction at 462 Ute Ave. Grand Junction CO, 81501 (39.0656, -108.5651))
Available Facilities
At the Museum: Parking, Restrooms, Indoor space, Elevator Accessibility
At the trailheads: Parking, Staging area, Horsetrailer parking, Interpretive wayside exhibits, Wayside signage along trail, Hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, picnic area, birding,dog walking, Historical, archeological, and paleontological interest.
Safety Considerations
Old Santa Fe Trail Building
The Old Santa Fe Trail Building, an iconic building located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a masterpiece of Spanish Pueblo Revival architecture. The structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmark and designated in the category of “Must be Preserved”.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), constructed the building between 1936-1939. The CCC was a government work program that provided jobs for young, unemployed men during the Great Depression. The New-Deal era building is the largest in-use adobe office building in the United States.
Site Information
Location (1100 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87505)
The building is currently closed to the public for stucco rehabilitation however, it is typically open to the public and interpreted by the NPS. The public uses the building as a ceremonial location for many NPS and non-NPS functions. Private groups such as the CCC alumni use the space for interpretive purposes and provide tours to visiting dignitaries.
The National Historic Trails Office, Regions 6|7|8, is headquartered in this building. The office administers 9 National Historic Trails, including the Santa Fe Trail, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, and the Old Spanish Trail, all which have a connection to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Old Spanish National Historic Trail
There was money to be made in transporting serapes and other woolen goods from New Mexico to Los Angeles and in wrangling California-bred horses and mules back to Santa Fe. There was likewise a strong economic incentive to move contraband goods and Indian slaves, over this same route. A viable overland route had to be found, though, to cross the remote deserts and mountains of Mexico’s far northern frontier.
In 1776, during the Spanish period, priests Francisco Atanasio Dominguez and Silvestre Velez de Escalante left Santa Fe and explored far and wide through northern New Mexico, western Colorado, and southern Utah. Much of this county would later be part of the Old Spanish Trail. During this same time period, Franciscan priests, the Spanish military, and civilian explorers were beginning to settle various coastal valleys in Alta California. No one, however, made the trek connecting California and New Mexico.
It took the vision and courage of Mexican trader Antonio Armijo to lead the first commercial caravan from Abiquiú, New Mexico to Los Angeles in late 1829. Following suit over the next twenty years, Mexican and American traders continued to use routes similar to the one he pioneered, frequently trading with Indian tribes along the way. It was from a combination of the indigenous footpaths, early trade and exploration routes, and horse and mule routes that the trail network known collectively as the “Old Spanish Trail” evolved. (The name was a term rooted in John C. Frémont’s report of his 1844 journey over the trail for the U.S. Topographical Corps., guided by Kit Carson. While the name acknowledges the fact that parts of the trail had been known to the Spanish since the 16th century, the 700-mile trail was not established until the Mexican period.) Many prominent members of both New Mexican and Californio families traversed this route as part of annual caravans. In one celebrated, well-documented instance, two toddlers made the trip while packed into the mules’ saddlebags.
Thanks in part to the Old Spanish Trail, Santa Fe emerged as the hub of the overland continental trade network linking Mexico and United States markets—a network that included not only this trail, but also the Santa Fe Trail and El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. After the United States took control of the Southwest in 1848, other routes to California emerged, a wagon route was opened to southern California, and use of the Old Spanish Trail sharply declined.
More Information
Old Spanish Trail Heritage Loop
The Old Spanish Trail Heritage Loop is made up of the Cottonwood and Lost Spring washes. Cottonwood Wash was taken between 1829 and 1848 by Old Spanish Trail pack mule caravans developing a trade route between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Los Angeles, California. Both washes were later developed into wagon roads to connect the towns of Green River and Castle Dale.
- An interactive app with additional sites and information can be downloaded by scanning the QR code on the wayside sign.
Site Information
Location (Old Spanish Trail Heritage Loop, Elmo, Emery County, Utah; 39.17902 N, 110.48517 W)
Available Facilities
Open area for parking; Trail Kiosk Information
Safety Considerations
The Old Spanish Trail Heritage Loop can be accessed from both the east and west using the Green River Cutoff Road. The portal sign and trailhead sign are visible from the road.
Getting to this area requires 4WD and high clearance at a minimum and is impassible during or after rain and snow. Keep in mind this loop is in a remote part of the San Rafael Swell.
Old Spanish Trail Retracement at Aztec Ruins
On the evening of November 17, 1829, Antonio Armijo and his caravan of about 60 men and 100 mules crossed Las Animas River at a shallow point near here and made camp. Armijo and his men were just beginning their journey on what would later be called the Old Spanish Trail. Pack mule caravans and travelers used the Old Spanish Trail as a trade route between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California, which were part of Northern Mexico at the time.
The Old Spanish Trail was only used during a couple of decades in the 19th century, it evolved as a combination of the indigenous footpaths that were used for centuries prior, early trade and exploration routes, and horse and mule trails across the region. The overland route was necessary to build the trade between New Mexico and California; to build the strong trade network of woolen goods of New Mexico exchanged for the horses and mules from California. This was happening at the same time as the trade of contraband goods and enslaved Native Americans.
After the end of the Mexican American War in 1848, the United States took control of most of the Southwest. New overland routes were established, and a wagon route was opened to southern California, and use of the Old Spanish Trail sharply declined.
Site Information
Location (Aztec Ruin National Monument, San Juan County New Mexico (36.8327, -107.9956))
Available Facilities
The Visitor Center has accessible restrooms, museum and informtion, picnic area, walking trails and a hertiage garden.
Safety Considerations