Lower Sunset Alternate Loop

Trailhead can be found on the south parking lot of Tom Mays just past the Visitor's Center. Trail starts of as doubletrack and turns into a singletrack as it turns northward. Elevation gradually increases with rolling terrain and arroyos. The trail becomes moderately steep as it turns eastward. Trail sign will point to the Tom Mays picnic/campground area, where the trail will lead right to the north pavilions. The main park road can be used to reach your vehicle at the southern trailhead/parking lot.

Views of the Rio Grande where the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Royal Road of the Interior, spanned 404 miles between San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, and the present-day national border with Mexico at El Paso, Texas. It is the earliest Euro-American trade route in the United States and historically continued roughly 1,000 miles further south to Mexico City. For nearly 300 years, the trail remained the principal trade route between New Mexico and the regions of Spanish-occupied New Spain, located to the south.