Old Spanish Trail

The route this panel describes never came near it. Antonio Armijo's party of about sixty men and a hundred mules left Abiquiú on November 7, 1829, and turned west some forty-five miles south of here, down Largo Canyon to the San Juan, returning by April 25, 1830. Once the Navajo were at war again, later caravans avoided that country and took the Main Route instead, swinging north toward the Navajo River and the Durango country, past Horse Lake on today's Jicarilla land. The welcome center tells the trail's first crossing from the edge of its later one.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Old Spanish Trail In 1829-30, Antonio Armijo traveled from Abiquiú to California to trade for mules, thus extending the Old Spanish Trail and opening it to trade between Santa Fe and Los Angeles. His route turned west, near present-day Abiquiú Dam, to Largo Canyon, which led him to the San Juan River.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad — 1.3 mi
  A narrow-gauge steam railroad from Chama over 10,015-foot Cumbres Pass to Antonito, kept narrow because nobody ever thought it worth converting.

More markers nearby

• Chama — 1.4 mi
• Chama — 1.8 mi
• Continental Divide — 8.2 mi
• Cumbres Pass — 9.0 mi