Trail Sites to Visit in New Mexico

Please contact each site before you go to obtain current information on closures, changes in hours, and fees.

Click on the site name or picture for more information about how to plan a visit.

Spanish Colonial Arts Museum

• Location: 750 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe
• Telephone: (505) 982-2226
• Access: Open to the public; call for hours
• Historical Significance: The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art is the only museum in the country dedicated to exhibiting and interpreting the art of the Hispanic Southwest. The Museum houses a collection of over 3700 pieces, including historically significant and contemporary works.
• 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.
• Exhibits: The museum offers an array of exhibits for all ages. The Delgado Room recreates the quarters of Officer Manuel Delgado, a trader along both the Santa Fe Trail and El Camino Real. Many of the displayed items were brought to Santa Fe over one of these trails. In the Costume Corner, children may don replicas of traditional local historical outfits from the peak of the Spanish Colonial era. Many more salons take you through time and across continents to paint the rich story of the arrival and evolution of the Spanish Colonial Arts in New Mexico. The museum also includes rotating exhibits that include national traveling shows.
• To Learn More: www.spanishcolonial.org/

El Camino Real Site, near La Cienega

• Location: La Cienega area, southwest of Santa Fe. Specific location is restricted.
• Access: Because of archeological sensitivities, this site is not open to regular public visitation. Contact the Archeological Conservancy at 505-266-1540 for information on yearly site tours.
• Historical Significance: This is the site of a pre-1680 (pre-Pueblo Revolt) rancho.
• Available Facilities: none
• To learn more: www.americanarchaeology.com/aaabout.html

Casa San Ysidro: The Gutiérrez-Minge House

• Location: 973 Old Church Road (PO Box 1487), Corrales, NM 87048. The site is near the corner of Mission Valley Road, and one-half mile west of Corrales Road (State Highway 448).
• Telephone: (505) 898-3915
• Access: The house is open to tours only; call for days / hours
• Historical Significance: The Gutiérrez home, dating from the 1870s, consisted of four rooms organized around a central hallway. This floor plan was characteristic of the Greek Revival style then popular in the eastern United States. Hispanic and Anglo residents enthusiastically adopted the floor plan but built their version of traditional adobe brick with flat roofs supported by vigas, creating a new 'Territorial Style' of architecture, which linked Spanish Colonial and American house types. After the Minge family acquired the home in 1952, they completely restored the original house. It has been open to visitors as a historic house museum since the Albuquerque Museum acquired the property in 1997.
• Available Facilities: The original home, built by the Gutiérrez family, dates to the 1870s. Today, Casa San Ysidro also includes Alan and Shirley Minge's recreation of a 19th century rancho, complete with a small family chapel, a central plazuela, and an enclosed corral area
• Exhibits: A priceless and scarce collection of Hispanic New Mexican artifacts, collected over several decades by the Minge family, is exhibited throughout the house.
• To learn more: www.cabq.gov/museum/history/casatour.html

Albuquerque Museum of Art and History

• Location: 2000 Mountain Road NW (corner of 19th Street), across the street from Tiguex Park and one mile northwest of downtown Albuquerque, NM 87104
• Telephone: (505) 243-7255
• Access: Open to the public; call for hours
• Historical Significance: The permanent history exhibit focus is on historical maps of the southwest region of the United States, Spanish occupation, Camino Real, Hispanic life, Civil War and statehood in 1912. On a broader scale, the museum staff researches, collects, preserves, and exhibits the history of Albuquerque and the Middle Rio Grande Valley from the founding early Spanish settlements prior to the Pueblo Revolt in 1680 and the settlement of Albuquerque in 1706 to the present.
• Available Facilities: The museum is housed in a large, modern building adjacent to Albuquerque's Old Town.
• Exhibits: An excellent art museum complements the many history exhibits. There are also a number of traveling historical exhibits, as well as a large repository of arms and armor, Hispanic crafts, Victorian items, decorative arts contributions, maps and textiles.
• To learn more: www.cabq.gov/museum/

Estancia de los Jaramillo

• Location: 1305 Blake Road SW, Albuquerque (corner of La Vega Drive)
• Access: This is a private residence; it is primarily important because of its history and its extant exterior architectural features. It is not open to general public visitation.
• Historical Significance: The site contains two buildings: a flat-roofed building contructed circa 1850, and a pitched-roof building constructed during the 1880s. One of these buildings is a portion of the original L-shaped adobe house - which was part of the Atrisco land grant - that may date as far back as the late 17th century. More research is needed on both the history of the property and of its two extant buildings.
• Available Facilities or Exhibits: no current on-site interpretation. The property is an open community garden and the landowners allow public access, but the buildings themselves are not accessible to the public.

Tomé Jail, outside Los Lunas

• Location: 8 Church Loop, SW side of plaza (adobe, set-back from street), Tomé
• Access: The exterior of this unmarked building can be viewed at any time. However, the jail is privately owned and is not open to the visiting public.
• Historical Significance: The agricultural village of Tomé dates from 1740, and the town jail (1875) is one of the few village buildings that dates to the historical period of significance (1598-1882). The jail was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 5, 1977.
• Available Facilities and Exhibits: none
• To learn more: http://wetherillfamily.com/tome_new_mexico.htm or https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/index.htm

Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (US Fish and Wildlife Service)

• Location: This 230,000-acre refuge is located along both sides of the Rio Grande between Belen and Socorro in Socorro County. The refuge's visitor center is located in La Joya, at the southern terminus of New Mexico Highway 304.
• Telephone: (505) 864-4021
• Access: Refuge lands are not open to the public. Call the visitor center for special tours.
• Historical Significance: The historical trail traverses the refuge along both sides of the Rio Grande.
• Exhibits: Exhibits and NPS Passport stamps for the trail can be found at the visitor center.
• To Learn More: www.fws.gov/refuge/sevilleta/

San Miguel Mission

• Location: 403 El Camino Real (corner of San Miguel Street); 2 blocks west of California Street (US 60), Socorro
• Telephone: (575) 835-2891
• Access: The exterior of this Roman Catholic Church can be viewed at any time. It is open for masses on a daily basis.
• Historical Significance: The mission was founded in 1598 (during Juan de Oñate's settlement expedition), and for many years it served as the southernmost mission in New Mexico's Rio Abajo (lower Rio Grande). Portions of the present church date back to 1826. In 2014, the church reopened to the congregation after a multiyear restoration. It is the oldest building in Socorro, New Mexico.
• Available Facilities: Surrounding the church and an adjacent church building is the downtown area of Socorro.
• Exhibits: Historical markers are located in the general vicinity.
• To learn more: http://www.sdc.org/~smiguel/schedule.htm

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge (US Fish and Wildlife Service)

• Location: This 57,331-acre refuge is located along eight miles of New Mexico Highway 1, south of San Antonio in Socorro County;the refuge's visitor center is on the west side of the highway, 8 miles south of San Antonio.
• Telephone: (575) 835-1828
• Access: Open to the public; call for hours
• Historical Significance: The historical trail traverses the refuge along both sides of the Rio Grande.
• Exhibits: The visitor center references El Camino Real in the exhibits. A large exhibit panel describing trail history is located at a viewpoint south of the visitor center, along the east side of New Mexico Highway 1. Point of Lands, as a viewpoint to the Rio Grande, hosts two outdoor exhibits.
• To learn more: www.fws.gov/refuge/Bosque_del_Apache/

John M. and John D. Barncastle House

• Location: 5492 Cristo Rey Street, Doña Ana (Doña Ana County), across the street from Our Lady of Purification Church
• Access: This is a private residence;it is primarily important because of its history and its extant exterior architectural features. It is not open to general public visitation.
• Historical Significance: This house, built in the 1850s, is a contributing element of the Doña Ana Village Historic District. John Duncan Barncastle was born in Philadelphia in 1832 and fought in New Mexico during the Civil War. His company remained in New Mexico after the war. He soon settled in Doña Ana and married the daughter of the community's founder. By 1870 he had the general store, a flour mill, and a profitable farm, which had pecan trees, pomegranate trees, and vineyards. He died at Doña Ana in October 1909. His son, John Melendez Barncastle, was born in Doña Ana on April 17, 1870 and died at Las Vegas, New Mexico on March 3, 1958. Both father and son are buried at the small cemetery in Doña Ana.
• Available Facilities: none
• Exhibits: none
• To learn more: www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=25653405

Antonio Store

• Location: 5285 Cristo Rey, Doña Ana (Doña Ana County)
• Access: This is a private residence;it is primarily important because of its history and its extant exterior architectural features. It is not open to general public visitation.
• Historical Significance: This building was erected in approximately 1850. It may have been a store operated by Antonio Girón Cardón, who lived from January 1873 to March 1952.
• Available Facilities: none
• Exhibits: none
• Website: none

Branigan Cultural Center

• Location: 501 North Main Street, Las Cruces
• Telephone: (575) 541-2154
• Access: Open to the public; call for hours
• Exhibits: The center hosts a permanent local history exhibit and changing cultural exhibits, as well as educational programs, classes, concerts, and other special events. The permanent exhibit offers a comprehensive look at the history of Las Cruces and the Mesilla Valley—spanning the past 400 years—through the use of photographs, documents, artifacts, and narrative. The building is on the National and State Registries of Historic Buildings.
• To learn more: http://www.las-cruces.org/departments/community-and-cultural-services/museum-system/branigan-cultural-center

New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum

• Location: 4100 Dripping Springs Road, Las Cruces
• Telephone: (575) 522-4100
• Access: Open to the public; call for hours
• Historical Significance: This museum brings to life the 3,000-year history of farming and ranching in New Mexico.
• Available Facilities: The main building contains more than 24,000 square feet of exhibit space, a mercantile, and a theatre.
• Exhibits: One of the museum's many exhibits deals with the role of El Camino Real in New Mexico's agricultural development. The Passport program stamp is available.
• To Learn More: www.nmfarmandranchmuseum.org/

Places to Visit in New Mexico

Historic sites or interpretive facilities on the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail in New Mexico for you to visit. Please contact each site before you go to obtain current information on closures, changes in hours, and fees.