El Camino Real, or “The King’s Highway” in Spanish

[Airperson]

The other day while browsing on the net I found an interesting article about the four laning of U.S. Highway 84 from Brunswick, Georgia to El Paso, Texas. The following is an excerpt from the article-(The El Camino East/West Corridor is a 1,729-mile roadway named for El Camino Real, or “The King’s Highway” in Spanish, and was named for the historic trail it will duplicate. The oldest road in Texas, El Camino extends down into Mexico. El Camino started as an Indian trail which the Spanish expanded and improved to link their LA and East Texas missions and forts to Mexico. This is the route that our forefathers traveled to settle this country. This project extends through TX, LA, MS, AL and GA the heartland of the Old South, crossing forty-eight counties and six parishes and directly impacting more than 1.5 million residents of those areas, according to project statistics.)
I think this would be a fun road to take through the old south. It would allow the traveler to avoid large metropolitan areas and the boredom of interstates 20 or 10. Has anyone had this driving experience and if so what are the points of interest along this road.

[Gene]

If you are interested in traveling on old 2 lane US highways, look at Road Trips USA. It's been through several editions and covers a number of these old highways. I don't know whether 84 is one of them, but there are lots of ideas for some cool trips.

One time we took US 80 from Georgia to Texas where the route disappeared although it used to go much further. It goes through famous places from the civil rights era such as Selma and Montgomery. We made sidetrips to blues country in the Mississippi Delta Country as well as other side trips. The route of 80 has changed many times over the years, but books like Road Trips can help you find the historic route.

Gene

[Airperson]

Thanks for your input Gene. Airstreams bring so much pleasure into our lives. Even when we are not going down the road we can sit in our beautiful trailers and travel in our arm chairs with a good travel book. I will check out Road Trips USA when I go to the book store. CU, AP

[eubank]

It appears that Camino Real was somewhat of a generic term for royal Spanish trails. There is, for instance, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, which went from Mexico City to around the current town of Espanola, NM:



Then there was also El Camino Real (California), connecting the Spanish missions there, here in a map from 1920:



And there was El Camino Real de los Tejas:



I'll add some links to the Wikipedia articles after dinner.


Lynn

[eubank]

Ok, chicken and broccoli consumed, so now the links:

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

El Camino Real de los Tejas
El Camino Real de los Tejas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

El Camino Real (California)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Camino_Real_(California)

By the way, there is an absolutely wonderful and large information center on the
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro located about 25-ish miles south of Socorro, NM. It's located well off to the side of the highway, but very well worth the drive!

El Camino Real » New Mexico State Monuments


Lynn

[Airperson]

Greetings eubank, The maps you posted are really spectacular as well as the historical data.
The following is an update of the 1987 four-lane program of Hwy. 84 across the southern states, Mississippi will complete the four-laning of 186.20 miles of Hwy. 84 in the El Camino project within the next couple of years. Currently, 95% has been completed. Georgia has almost completed that state’s portion of Hwy. 84 with 84% complete. Alabama and Texas have completed 52% and 73% respectively of the El Camino project and Louisiana has completed 15%. It looks as though this may be the less road less traveled; at least for now.

[Gene]

And there is the Old Spanish Trail starting in NM and then eventually reaching US 50 after going over north Cochetopa Pass (Colo. 114) and eventually reaching the Pacific.

Gene

[eubank]

Gene, Wikipedia has an article and map of the Old Spanish Trail, too. Here are map and link:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Spa..._(trade_route)


Lynn

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

And there is the Old Spanish Trail starting in NM and then eventually reaching US 50 after going over north Cochetopa Pass (Colo. 114) and eventually reaching the Pacific.

Gene

[Airperson]

Eubank, thanks for taking the time to post. The wikipedia article is a wonderful read, it brings to light the tenacity and bravery inherent in the great movement west. As Americans we all have so much to be thankful for and proud of.

[RamblinManGa]

Hi from GA. . . we go West frequently & are looking for alternates to the Interstates as well. I-20 is really bad in Ala & boring till you get to West Texas. I-40 is more interesting but SO rough thru Ok. I just ordered the 'Road Trip USA' from Amazon, so I'll holler if US 84 or anything else looks good, you do the same Airperson. Regards, Craig

[eubank]

If you become interested in the southwest with center in New Mexico, here are a couple of books that I very strongly recommend:

Hampton Sides: Blood and Thunder

Marc Simmons: New Mexico, An Interpretive History


Lynn