El Camino Real (California)

El Camino Real (California)

El Camino Real in California is a long road that stretches about 600 miles, or 965 kilometers. It connects 21 important places called missions built by Spanish people long ago, from Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego all the way north to Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma. Along the way, it also passes by smaller mission sites, four military forts called presidios, and three towns known as pueblos.

This road is named after older paths used by people in New Spain, which was a Spanish area that included parts of Mexico and the southwestern United States. The name El Camino Real, meaning “The Royal Road” or “The King’s Highway,” was brought back to life in the early 1900s when people in America were excited about the Mission Revival movement.

Today, many streets in California still carry the name El Camino Real. These roads have been improved over time and are marked with special bells to remember their history. The route officially starts near the Mexican border and ends in Sonoma, following many different roads including Interstate 5 and State Route 12.

Spanish and Mexican era

Long ago, roads called caminos reales were used by the Spanish government to connect important places, including New Spain. Before missions were built in California, there were already missions in Las Californias, Baja California, and Mexico.

In 1769, explorers called the Portolá expedition, led by Franciscan missionaries, started building missions along the California coast. They began at San Diego and moved north. Sometimes they went inland because the coast was too rocky. Later, another explorer named Juan Bautista de Anza found easier paths through valleys away from the coast.

Missionaries from the Jesuit and Franciscan orders set up many religious places from Baja California to California between 1683 and 1835. Big trips were usually done by ship along the coast, not by land. Some stories say the missions were placed about 30 miles apart, but this isn’t true—they were spaced unevenly. Another story says priests dropped mustard seeds to mark the trail with yellow flowers, but this isn’t proven.

American era

In the middle of the 1800s, when California became a state, the old road needed to be improved for big carriages and wagons. In 1892, a woman named Anna Pitcher from Pasadena, California began a project to make the road special. By 1906, they placed special bells along the road to remind people of its history. These bells were placed on tall wooden sticks and became a symbol of the old missions.

Later, maps were made to help drivers follow the route. Over time, many of the bells were lost or stolen. In 1996, workers started restoring the bells, and by 2005, they had put up 555 new ones. Some Native American groups felt the bells reminded them of sad times in their history, and in 2019, one bell was taken down from a university. This showed that the road means different things to different people.

Modern highway and street routes

Many modern highways follow parts of the old El Camino Real route. But most of the road between San Jose and San Francisco is just city streets.

Some old roads close to the route also have the name El Camino Real. For example, Mission Street in San Francisco is part of the old route. Near Mission San Juan Bautista, you can still see an old unpaved stretch of road. It runs close to the San Andreas Fault, where the ground drops a little.

Many streets in California are named after El Camino Real, even if they don’t follow the exact path.

Near the Rios-Caledonia Adobe in San Miguel, you can see a part of the old mission road called El Camino Real. This road was used by stagecoaches before it became part of the first US 101 highway.

In San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, the road is called State Route 82. Some parts of it are named El Camino Real. This old road is also part of the de Anza route, just a few miles west of Route 101.

Historic designations

El Camino Real is a special road recognized as California Historical Landmark number 784. There are two important signs along the road that tell its history. One sign is close to Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego, and the other is near Mission San Francisco de Asís in San Francisco. These signs help people learn about the road's past.