TRAIL SEGMENT ON THIS PAGE: 
Tusas Springs Route

>>Socorro-History.org/CAMINOREAL/Paraje

Website courtesy of the Socorro County Historical Society (SCHS), P.O. Box 921, Socorro, New Mexico 87801 [SCHS home page]

Reservoir west trail from the spring & reservoir continues wearing a path through the sandstone traveling west, then climbs and winds over a lava ridge, then the slight descent to the river bank at trail landmark Paraje Fra Cristobal.

Spring & reservoir is a trail feature of unknown affinity, or whether the small reservoir was man-made or natural. It is used as a reference point for the Tusas Route mapping project and access to the trail.

Reservoir east trail from Lava Station railroad siding continues as a mesquite lined trail across compact ground, then develops into a well-worn trail through the softer sandstone to, and through, the spring & reservoir on the trail.  This is one of the most pristine sections of El Camino Real visible through the Jornada del Muerto.

Lava Station was a water stop built 1880–1881 with the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad (now BNSF). In the 1890s, corrals and a siding were built for shipping cattle from the Diamond A Ranch and guano from the Jornada bat caves. Later, a Section House was built for the crews rebuilding the line. Lava Station was abandoned in the 1950s when diesel engines replaced the steam locomotives. The telegraph and station building were razed and the water tank dismantled, leaving only the remnants of the section house and corrals.  El Camino Real from Tusas Springs came through the site.

 

NOTE: The trail in this area is part of the Armendaris Ranch for which no public

access is allowed without ranch permission. Trespassers are prosecuted. 

Distances
14 mi. Tusas Springs to Paraje*

From Laguna del Muerto
26 mi. to Paraje* via main trail
29 mi. to Paraje* via Tusas Springs

 

* Paraje Fra Cristobal 

The Camino Real Mapping Project
on these web pages

is the exclusive work of the