Directions

 

El Camino Real de los Tejas Map Description

This map of the southern portions of the states of Texas and Louisiana, depicts a multi-coursed trail that traverses from western Louisiana, to southwestern Texas and depicts the trail stopping at the border with Mexico.

 

Long Map Description

This map of the southern portions of the states of Texas and Louisiana, depicts a multi-coursed trail that traverses from western Louisiana, to southwestern Texas and the border with Mexico. The states are colored a sandy brown color, the water is a light blue, and Mexico is a tan-hued grey. The borders are marked in a thin black line. The Trail is depicted by a thicker red line. Major cities are written in black text with a black dot indicating their location on the map. The states are marked in darker brown text, captital letters, "Texas," and "Louisiana." 

Louisiana

Louisiana is shown in the upper right hand corner of the map. The southwestern corner of the state is shown. The town of Lafayette is shown in the lower part of the state, near the Gulf of Mexico. The town of Natchitoches is shown in the upper portion of the part of the state that is shown. The trail leaves from this town and travels west into texas. It splits into two trails while in the state of Louisiana, and joins again at the border with Texas. There is a slight amount of shaded relief indicating higher elevation terrain in this portion of the Louisiana that is shown. 

Texas

Texas is shown on the middle of the map through the end on the left. Most of the state is shown on the map, with only the northern and western sections not fully depicted. The trail enters Texas on the border with Louisiana. It spits into two trails, joining again into one before the town of Nacogdoches. The trail travels mostly southwest from Nacogoches, splitting into multiple branches and joining again. The northern branch travels south of the town of Waco, which is indicated on the map, and through the towns of Taylor, Austin, Kyle, San Marcos, New Braunfels, and San Antonio. The many branched trail continues on until it reaches the border of Mexico and Texas, where this image depicts it stopping. The location of the city of Houston and Corpus Christi, both in southern texas near the Gulf of Mexico, are also depicted on this map. 

 

El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail is not a clearly marked hiking trail. Instead it is a route that passes through communities, urban areas, public lands, and Wilderness. The route travels across a variety of land ownerships and management, including private land. Because of the nature of the trail, it is not possible to travel directly on the full national historic trail route.

Trail sites offer opportunities to experience the trail and travel or recreate on portions of it. Each location varies as to the hours of operations and access. Please contact individual trail sites before your visit for more information.

• Check out Trail Maps!

• Find Places to Go along the Trail.

• Find out where to get your Passport stamped.

Plane
You can reach the national historic trail by flying into a number of airports, including Laredo and San Antonio, Texas, and Alexandria, Louisiana. Because of the nature of the trail and the site locations, traveling by car is the best way to visit the trail.

Car
You can reach some trail sites by auto on all-weather roads. Though some sites can be viewed from the road, many sites are on private land, and can't be physically accessed. Please respect the private landowners and do not trespass.

Bike
The historic route passes through private land, so it is not possible to bike the full trail. Other portions of the trail that are on public land might restrict biking access. Alternative biking routes and detours have been created by users and are available online. The National Park Service doesn't current promote one specific bike packing route.

Recreation
The public sites along the trail offer a variety of recreation opportunities, from hiking, biking, horseback riding to many others. Please check with the individual site for availability.