Following the Royal Road

The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (Royal Road of the Interior Land) is North America's oldest (Juan de Oñate extended the Camino to New Mexico in 1598) and longest (1500 miles) road. Here, Hal Jackson brings to life this important route connecting Mexico City with Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was the lifeline for administrative, commercial, and ecclesiastical functions in northern Mexico. The northern section of the Camino Real, the portion in New Mexico and Texas, was designated a National Historical Trail by the US Congress in 2000 and an interpretative and visitor centre (the Camino Real Heritage Centre) has opened south of Socorro, New Mexico. This guidebook provides the traveller with useful commentary on the entire Camino as it winds its way from New Mexico through Mexico, ending in Mexico City. Jackson includes narrative accounts collected from a variety of primary sources to add an eyewitness perspective to topics as diverse as sixteenth-century haciendas, colonial presidios, and important rest stops '(parajes)' on the Camino in New Mexico. There are many historical vignettes plus sixty maps drawn by the author to assist in finding Camino sites. Other information provides the traveller details such as highway numbers, mileage, accommodations, and areas of interest off the main Camino route.

Hal Jackson is professor emeritus of geography at Humboldt State University and is currently part of the adjunct faculty of the University of New Mexico's Department of Geography