By David Glen Robinson
If you’ve ever heard of the “King’s Highway” or “El Camino Real,” you might know it as one of the most historic roads in Texas—and really, all of North America. In Spanish, El Camino Real de los Tejas means “The Royal Road of the Tejas,” and it was the name given to any of the official roads built by the Spanish Empire during colonial times.
In Texas, El Camino Real de los Tejas connected San Antonio to Nacogdoches. It wasn’t just a trail—it was a vital lifeline for the Spanish, used for trade, military travel, and spreading Christianity by establishing missions throughout the region. Along the way, travelers could rest at spots called “parajes” (sort of like early roadside inns) and feed and water their livestock at designated areas known as “rodeos.”
Unlike the random footpaths through the wilderness, this road was a major thoroughfare—a kind of colonial highway. Variations of El Camino Real existed throughout the Southwest and even into Central America, but the route through Texas played a special role in the development of Bastrop County.
The Route Through Bastrop County
Now, the exact path the road took through Bastrop County isn’t crystal clear—after all, this was over 300 years ago and roads weren’t paved. Instead, it was more like a network of well-traveled trails that shifted over time. That said, historians and archaeologists believe the route likely passed through what are now the towns of Bastrop and Elgin. It probably crossed the Colorado River near Bastrop and continued northeast through McDade and into modern-day Lee County.
Eventually, this stretch of the trail became better known as the Old San Antonio Road, especially since other regions also had their own versions of El Camino Real.
How It All Started
The beginnings of the road go back to the late 1600s, when three Spanish expeditions came through the area. The first was led by Alonso de León in 1690, followed by Domingo Terán de los Ríos in 1691, and then Gregorio de Salinas Varona in 1693. Their goal? Reach the missions of East Texas from Monclova, which was then the capital of the Spanish province of Coahuila and Texas.
Back then, traveling was slow—on horseback, in wagons, or just walking. There weren’t road signs, just some stone markers, mounds, or notches carved into trees. These expeditions often had to rely on traces left behind by earlier travelers, which is how El Camino Real gradually took shape—not as a single road, but a woven web of trails.
Two Routes Through Central Texas
By around 1715, the road actually split into two main routes because of the thick Post Oak Savannah that was nearly impossible to travel through.
Northern Route: This path ran from San Antonio through present-day San Marcos, crossed the Colorado River near what is now Austin, and continued northeast through places like Hearne.
Southern Loop: The southern route went from San Antonio to Cuero, skirted around the Post Oak Savannah, crossed the Colorado near La Grange, and met back up near the Little and Brazos Rivers.
Originally, the northern route saw more traffic. But over time, due to conflicts with Native American groups, travelers shifted to the southern loop by the late 1700s. Much of this history was detailed in a 1983 article by Aníbal González, titled *El Monte Grande: Texas Inner Frontier: 1691–1795, published by the Sayersville Historical Association.
Changing Directions and Names
In the late 1700s, as more settlers arrived from the United States, travel patterns began to change. The main flow of traffic went from Nacogdoches to San Antonio instead of the other way around. That’s when people started using the name “Old San Antonio Road” more often—a name that stuck around.
Mapping the Trail in the 20th Century
Fast forward to the early 1900s: the Texas Legislature hired land surveyor V.N. Zivley to trace the original route. Using diaries (including a detailed one from 1778 by Juan Agustín Morfi), Zivley pieced together a likely path. In central Texas, he mapped the trail as running through Bastrop, Lee, and Burleson counties, closely matching today’s State Highway 21. In Bastrop County, it’s still known locally as the San Marcos Highway. It crosses the Colorado River right in the town of Bastrop and continues northeast toward Nacogdoches.
A National Historic Trail
In 2004, the National Park Service officially recognized El Camino Real de los Tejas as a National Historic Trail, a title that honors its deep importance in Texas history—and American history as a whole.