If you go ... El Camino Real

WHERE: Thirty miles south of Socorro, N.M. Take Exit 115 off I-25 and go east to N.M. 1 frontage road, south on frontage road 1.5 miles to County Road 1598, 2.7 miles on county road to center.

Address: P.O. Box 175, Socorro, NM 87801

When: Open seven days a week, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

Admission: $5 adults. Free admission for children 16 and under. Sundays free for New Mexico residents. Wednesdays free for New Mexico seniors (60 and older). Free admission for all school groups, El Camino Real International Heritage Center Foundation members, Museums of New Mexico Foundation members, American Association of Museums, International Council of Museums. Senior groups 10-plus, $1 admission.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.nmstatemonuments.org; e-mail info@caminorealheritage.org; phone 505-854-3600; fax 505-854-3609

ADDITIONAL READING: "The Royal Road: El Camino Real From Mexico City to Santa Fe" (University of New Mexico Press, 1998). Text by Douglas Preston and Jose Antonio Esquibel, photographs by Christine Preston.