El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, Old Spanish Trail, Santa Fe Trail: Santa Fe, New Mexico Itinerary

Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. These tours leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.

Looking for a park ranger in your pocket? Be guided by the NPS app! You can find the tours by searching for the Santa Fe Trail!

Santa Fe Plaza Walking Tour

What visit to Santa Fe, New Mexico doesn't include a walk around the historic plaza? The unique sense and feel of Santa Fe is best experienced as you stroll along the sidewalks, but it can be confusing what story you are stepping into. Use this tour to take a peek into Santa Fe's past, back to the days when traders gathered in the plaza, dust would be covering your boots, and, just as today, you could hear the church bell's chime.

• Santa Fe Plaza — The Santa Fe Plaza has long been the spatial, economic, and social center of New Mexico’s capital city. Now half its original size, the Plaza is landscaped with flagstone, walks, benches, and trees. Taken together, the plaza and the surrounding buildings form a well-maintained historic district that tells the story of Santa Fe’s transition from frontier outpost to modern tourist destination.
• Trujillo, Prince & Sena Plazas — At 109, 111 & 115 East Palace Avenue, peek into the plazas that date back to the Santa Fe Trail era, located behind the buildings along Palace Avenue - they host shops and restaurants today.
• La Parroquia Site (Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi) — Santa Fe’s Cathedral Basilica evolved through several churches on the same site. After the 1680 Pueblo Revolt destroyed the original church, La Parroquia was built in the 1710s, incorporating a chapel for La Conquistadora. Archbishop Lamy later expanded and replaced it with a grand Romanesque stone cathedral, completed in 1895. The chapel remains a link to the city’s past.
• Exchange Hotel Site (La Fonda) — William and Mary Dodson Donoho, who crossed the Santa Fe Trail from Missouri, operated an inn here known as Los Estados Unidos House in 1833-37. By 1847 it had become the Santa Fe House. By 1848 it was the U.S. Hotel, offering liquor and gaming. It became the Exchange Hotel in 1851. It is still operated as hotel, La Fonda on the Plaza. Mirroring Santa Fe, the hotel's history is varied, rich, and unique.
• Loretto Chapel (Chapel of Our Lady of Light) — This Gothic Revival chapel, started in 1873 and completed in 1878, was built by young French architect Projectus Mouly for the Sisters of Loretto. In 1855, Jean Baptiste Lamy moved the Loretto Academy here into a former hotel he bought in 1854, La Casa Americana (the American House). The chapel is famed for its 20-foot high, circular staircase, built in 1878. Loretto Chapel is an enduring reminder of the many influences that shaped Santa Fe.

Historic Trails Tour

"Where are you from?" is a common phrase to hear around Santa Fe. There are many reasons people visit the city today, or have moved here in the past. A recent history of migration, of trade, of cultural exchange, explains the varied stories of Santa Fe's visitors and residents. But the essence of the phrase, of the unknown nature of those who are gathered here, can also be extended to the longer history of Santa Fe.

As the Santa Fe trail brought in people, goods, and culture from the east, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro extended that exchange to Mexico City to the south. To the west, to and from Los Angeles, California, the Old Spanish trail furthered the cultural richness of this city. Explore the sites along this tour to gain a better understanding of the history of the why, where, and how of Santa Fe.

• San Miguel Chapel in Santa Fe — This adobe chapel is a Santa Fe Trail landmark, and was in use before 1626,. Partly destroyed in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, it was rebuilt in 1710. Its bulto (wooden statue) of St. Michael predates 1709; its wooden reredos (altar screen), painted in 1798, sits above the original altar.
• Barrio de Analco Historic District, Santa Fe, New Mexico — The National Historic Landmark Barrio de Analco Historic District in Santa Fe, New Mexico is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods of European origin in the United States. The seven adobe brick buildings that make up the Barrio de Analco Historic District provide visitors with a glimpse of old Santa Fe and of the Spanish Pueblo and Territorial architectural styles reflected in the buildings in the neighborhood.
• Santuario de Guadalupe — Built in 1776-96, this cruciform adobe church is the oldest extant shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe in the U.S. Its vigas (ceiling beams), corbels (brackets), and choir loft came from the military chapel, La Castrense. It’s at the east end of Agua Fria St., a remnant of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (the Royal Road to the Interior Land), later known as the Chihuahua Trail.
• Doña Tules’s Gambling Hall Site (Bokum Building) — Born in Sonora, Mexico, Doña Maria Gertrudes Barcelo operated her lavishly decorated saloon and gambling hall here from 1832-36 until her death. Reputedly the best monte dealer in Santa Fe, the red-haired, cigar-smoking “Doña Tules” soon grew wealthy. Historic Burro Alley is adjacent to the building.
• Fort Marcy — Fort Marcy and nearby Fort Ethan Allen and other batteries on the northern bank of the Potomac River were built to protect Leesburg Pike and Chain Bridge.

Learn More

Explore history on the Trail

### Old Spanish National Historic Trail

Explore history on the Trail

### Santa Fe National Historic Trail

Explore history on the Trail

### El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

Where this belongs

• El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail
• Old Spanish National Historic Trail
• Santa Fe National Historic Trail

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