Rio Grande Overlook at Arroyo San Francisco

Visit the Rio Grande Overlook for views of El Camino Real de los Tejas' historic landscape.

Photo/NPS

Quick Facts

Location:

Off of Highway 83

Significance:

Expansive view of the Rio Grande River provides the backdrop to a discussion of the nations that claimed Texas as theirs and how the river was then an obstacle but today it is an international border.

MANAGED BY:

Texas Department of Transportation

Amenities

1 listed

Picnic Shelter/Pavilion

Many cultures have crossed this stretch of the Rio Grande River, and many nations have claimed it. In the 1700s, Spanish colonists settled along the river at Villa de Dolores and Revilla. In the early 1800s, Mexican landowners established ranches on both banks. This overlook provides an expansive view of the river and landscape.

The overlook sits hundreds of feet above the Rio Grande River. While there have been people living along the Rio Grande for centuries, this site provides a beautiful view of a landscape that offer a glimpse of undeveloped Texas river lands. The overlook is a good vantage point to glimpse the landscape in which the ranchos were created along the river. It is a place to contemplate past and present, and to consider the meaning of the river as both an obstacle to traveling El Camino Real and creating settlements in the past, to understanding the river as an international boundary today. It is a relevant place to be in a time of immigration debate by understanding heritage and ancestry in the modern world. 

Site Information

Location (Off of Highway 83)

Expansive view of the Rio Grande River provides the backdrop to a discussion of the nations that claimed Texas as theirs and how the river was then an obstacle but today it is an international border.

Safety Considerations

El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail