Although many Americans think of mountains, canyons and large wilderness areas when asked to picture a National Park. In Texas, a trail that the US Park Service protects doesn’t quite fit that definition. The El Camino Real de la Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail protects the Spanish trade route that changed this formerly rugged, wild country into a Spanish colony and eventually into the cities and towns that make up Texas.
This trail marks a string of sites that require a lot more imagination. It’s a series of sites that cross more than 38 Texas counties and make the route from the Spanish Colonial Era. A corridor that ran from Mexico to Louisiana.
This trade route and trail of exploration was used by so many people and for so long that traces can still be seen along its route.
Visitors find this camino at springs and river crossings and at some of San Antonio’s most historic sites. But it’s also part of the highways and busy roads we often commute on every day.
“Interstate 35 follows the same route because we are looking for the same things,” said Steven Gonzales, executive director of El Camino Real de los Tejas Historic Trail Association.
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