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El Camino Real Historic Trail Site was an interpretive center about El Camino Real and the Spanish colonization of New Mexico.
The center was located halfway between Albuquerque and El Paso, Texas. It sits about 35 miles south of Socorro along I-25 and not too far from Fort Craig Historic Site. It was operated as a New Mexico Historic Site by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and closed in November 2016 due to budget issues. The Friends of El Camino Real are hoping for the reopening of the site in the future (as of May 2024) and regard it as “temporarily closed” on their website.
Building
The building was designed to look like a ship traveling across the desert. The entrance was the gangway while the interior resembled a cruise ship. It’s an attractive building designed by Dekker/Perich/Sabatini of Albuquerque and completed in 2005. The Bureau of Land Management along with the governments of Mexico and Spain all contributed to the project.
Exhibits
The displays inside the museum were beautifully constructed to resemble a Spanish colonial village. There was a plaza with a fountain as well as the façades of a church and adobe house.
Exhibits focus on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. It was a historic 2,560 kilometer (1,590 mile) trade route from Mexico City to the San Juan Pueblo, north of Santa Fe. It was used from 1598 to 1882. The museum featured interpretive panels and artifacts about the people who traveled along the trail as well as information about life in the 18th century under Spanish rule.
One of the most important sections talked about the Jornada del Muerto (Deadman’s Journey), which involved travelers crossing an arid and treeless 90-mile stretch of desert between Las Cruces and Socorro. Travelers would cross at night using the stars as navigation aids.
Observation Deck
Behind the building of El Camino Real Historic Trail Site was an observation deck looking over the vast open desert. There was also a short trail.
