News Release
Date: June 1, 2018
Contact: Jeff Denny, 505-988-6665
Contact: Colleen Baker, 505-922-9868
Release date: Immediate
Contacts: Colleen Baker, Santa Fe County, 505-922-9868
Jeff Denny, National Park Service, 505-988-6665
Date: June 1, 2018
New Section of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail Opens in Santa Fe, June 2nd.
On Saturday, June 2, 2018, a new 14.7 mile portion of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (NHT) will open in Santa Fe. A public event dedicating this new trail and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System takes place at 11:30 am at the new Dead Dog Trailhead on Buckman Road, eight miles west of Highway 599 in Santa Fe.
The new trail connects the Santa Fe River Greenway with the National Historic Trail and offers visitors an unbroken path for hiking, biking, and horseback riding along the historic route. This is now the longest stretch of publicly accessible, non-motorized trail along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro NHT. Trail users can follow in the footsteps of history—a vicarious experience through the nearly unchanged, historic landscape—along with increased access to federal public lands between downtown Santa Fe and recreation areas west of Santa Fe on the Caja del Rio Plateau.
Events on June 2nd begin at 11:30 am with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Live music, food trucks, and Junior Ranger activities for the kids will go on until 1:30 p.m. People are encouraged to bring their hiking shoes, bikes, or horses out to experience the new trail.
Organized horse and bike rides to the event are available that day as well. For more information on these activities, please contact:
http://santafehorse.org/event/el-camino-real-trail-inaugural-ride
http://sfct.org/event/national-trails-day-camino-real-trail-opening
This project is a partnership of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP), Santa Fe County, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), US Forest Service, National Park Service (NPS), and City of Santa Fe. The majority of the project funding comes from FHWA FLAP money totaling $3.7 million. Additional matching funds were provided from Santa Fe County, the City of Santa Fe, and the NPS Connect Trails to Parks funds.
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro connected Mexico City to Ohkay Owingeh, a distance of 1,600 miles. The 404-mile section of the trail within the US has portions in Texas and New Mexico, and was designated as the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro NHT by Congress in 2000. The NHT is co-administered by the BLM and NPS.
For more information on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro NHT, please visit:
https://www.nps.gov/elca
http://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/national-scenic-and-historic-trails/el-camino-real-de-tierra-adentro
Last updated: May 16, 2019