• Juan Bautista de Anza

    National Historic Trail AZ,CA

National Park Service Sites

Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail is a 1200 mile trail through Arizona and California. There are eight National Park Service sites affiliated with the Anza Trail. Park sites are listed by state and then alphabetically. Visit the park websites to find directions. Links are provided in the titles below.

Arizona

 
Image of main house ruins at Casa Grande Ruins National Momument

Ruins at Casa Grande

NPS

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument - Anza and Pedro Font visited the ruins on a side trip from one of their campsites on October 31, 1775
 
Entrance sign to Saguaro National Park

Entrance sign to Saguaro National Park

NPS

Saguaro National Park - Enjoy spectacular views of the desert landscape as the Anza expedition members saw it in October 1775
 
Chapel at Tumacacori National Historical Park

Mission San José de Tumacácori

NPS

Tumacácori National Historical Park - On October 17, 1775, Pedro Font held mass at the mission as the expedition headed towards Tubac
 
California
 
Channel Islands National Park

Channel Islands National Park

NPS

Channel Islands National Park - The Anza expedition members saw the islands when they camped on the mainland near Santa Clara River on February 23, 1776
 
Martinez Adobe at John Muir National Historic Site

Vincent Martinez Adobe

NPS

John Muir National Historic Site - On the grounds is the Vicente Martinez Adobe, once occupied by descendants of the 1776 Anza Expedition. The Adobe houses the Anza Trail Exhibit that opened in 2010.
 
Volcanic peaks of Pinnacles National Monument

Volcanic peaks of Pinnacles National Monument

NPS

Pinnacles National Monument - Some of the expedition members may have seen these volcanic peaks rising above California's Salinas Valley as they traveled north to San Francisco
 
Historic pilots' quarters

Historic pilots' quarters

NPS

Presidio of San Francisco - On March 28, 1776, Captain Anza selected the site for the Presidio and Mission of San Francisco
 
Mountain bikers at the Las Virgenes trailhead along the Anza Trail

Mountain bikers at the Las Virgenes trailhead along the Anza Trail

NPS

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area - Explore the landscape similar to what the Anza expedition members encountered in February 1776

Did You Know?

Copyright Bill Singleton, NPS and Pima County Graphics

Lt. Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza was one of the first Spaniards to visit the Casa Grande ruins in modern day Arizona in 1775.  He had his priest, Father Pedro Font, measure its dimensions with a lance, and then use an astronomical quadrant to fix its astronomical position. More...