Weathered wooden crosses and marble headstones punctuate the cemetery that fronts the graceful stepped facade of the 1843 Socorro Mission, just south of El Paso, Texas. Highlighting such surnames as Domínguez, Armendariz, Apodaca, Peña, López, Nuñez and Holguin, the cemetery documents over a century of life and death in the 17th-century settlement of Socorro del Sur, located on the southern segment of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, locally known as the Mission Trail. The cemetery only tells part of the fascinating survival story of the Socorro Mission of Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception) and the community it has served for more than 300 years.

The first church at Ysleta was built in 1682 by Spaniards and American Indians who had fled from Isleta (south of present-day Albuquerque, New Mexico) during the Pueblo Revolt. Due to periodic floods of the Rio Grande, the present church was built in 1744, but it was heavily damaged after an 1829 flood and subsequently rebuilt. The last major renovations to the church took place after a 1907 fire partially destroyed the structure.

Known historically as an oasis in the middle of the country’s northern deserts, Parras de la Fuente presents an architecture connected to its natural surroundings, such as the Chapel of Santo Madero, erected on the Sombreretillo mountain. It is also the birthplace of the so-called “Apostle of the Revolution,” Francisco I. Madero.

An important agricultural center and historical city where in 1811, in the San Francisco Monastery, the heads of the fathers of Mexican Independence were put on display, to the horror of the local population: Miguel Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende, Juan Aldama and Mariano Jiménez.

Mining town of great importance during the colonial period, and the site where in 1923 one of the main leaders of the Mexican Revolution, Francisco Villa, was assassinated. Today it is recognized as the second municipality in the state of Chihuahua with the most historical monuments.

The interior of the Cueva de las Mulas houses rock art associated with the presence of mules and other animals brought by the Spaniards conquistadors to the region during the 14th and 17th centuries. It is located in the Molino Canyon, in the Guatimapé Valley, within the municipality of Nuevo Ideal, in the state of Durango.

The Ojuela mine was founded in 1598 and is currently located in the municipality of Mapimí. It flourished during the 18th century and was part of a system of mines and real estates that was crucial in the route of the Royal Inland Road.

The stretch of the Royal Inland Road between Nazas and San Pedro del Gallo is located in an area that was part of the presidio line, on the borders of the Bolsón de Mapimí. It spans approximately fifty kilometers, connecting the Hacienda de San Antonio, the former Jesuit mission of Cinco Señores (now Nazas), and the presidio of San Pedro del Gallo. These points were part of the route between Cuencamé and Parral and represented a day's journey on foot for travelers.

The town of Villa Ocampo, located beside the Bocas River, was an old Jesuit mission that was part of the Spanish Crown's evangelization efforts in the northern viceroyalty. Initially, its role was to provide a place for travelers along the Royal Inland Road to rest and seek shelter as they journeyed toward the northern settlements of Nueva Vizcaya.