I was in Texas in December and my wife and I had the opportunity to rent some bikes and ride the Mission Trail! San Antonio is the home to five missions built by the Catholic Church, the earliest one being established in 1690. Here is the map of our bike route … it roughly follows El Camino Real (the Royal Road). From the Blue Star Brewery Parking lot, it was a 22 mile round trip visiting four of the five missions. We saw a lot of great birds on this ride too … maybe a follow up post!
The first mission we visited was before we were on the bikes. It is right in downtown San Antonio and you are probably familiar with it with this name: The Alamo. It was one of the five missions on the list, but it is now a historic Texas site and no longer an active Catholic Church. Here’s a night time picture I took of it …
The next four missions are listed below, somewhat in the order of our visiting them.
Mission Concepción
Misión Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña was established in 1716 as Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de los Hainais in East Texas. The mission was moved in 1731 to San Antonio. Founded by Franciscan friars, this is the best preserved of the Texas missions. It still holds active services.
Mission San José
Misión San José y San Miguel de Aguayo was established in 1720. Located at 6519 San Jose Drive, it was designated the San Jose Mission National Historic Site in 1941. The historic site was administratively listed on the National Register on October 15, 1966. The church, which is still standing, was constructed in 1768.
Mission San Juan Capistrano
Misión San Juan Capistrano was established in 1716 as Misión San Jose de los Nazonis in East Texas.
The mission was renamed and moved in 1731 to San Antonio. Located on Mission Road, San Juan was listed on the National Register on February 23, 1972.
Mission Espada
Misión San Francisco de la Espada was established in 1690 as San Francisco de los Tejas near present-day Augusta and renamed San Francisco de los Neches in 1721. The mission was moved in 1731 to San Antonio and given its current name. This was the mission the furthest south on the route.
After a twenty+ mile mountain bike tour, it was time to reward ourselves with some great Mexican food at Mi Tierras. If you are in San Antonio, I recommend both of these experiences!
Stumblingpiper
Stumblingpiper 