El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Royal Road of the Interior, is the
earliest Euro-American trade route of cultures and commerce in the
United States. It spanned about 1,800 miles from Mexico City, where the
road originated, to Santa Fe, in New Mexico. For three centuries, this
Spanish colonial road followed a network of ancient Native American
footpaths and trails that followed the wide expanse of the Rio Grande
valley. There were parajes, or campgrounds, along the way for travelers,
and early Spanish settlements were established too. Some of the towns
and villages are now modern cities, such as Las Cruces, Albuquerque, and
Santa Fe. Mexico City, as the former capital of La Nueva España, New
Spain, is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Center. In 2000, El
Camino Real was officially designated as a national historic trail,
administered by the US Department of the Interior. In 2005, the El
Camino Real International Heritage Center was erected near Socorro, New
Mexico. This is an interpretive learning center that presents the
history and heritage of the Royal Road in the region as an integral part
of Spain's global network of roads and maritime trade routes.