Former hacienda of Cieneguilla and Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
293 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 15
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 293 km round trip from Centro de Arriba - roughly 5 h 15 in the saddle. It goes by way of Former hacienda of Peñuelas, Historic ensemble of the city of Aguascali, Former hacienda of Pabellón de Hidalgo and Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Former hacienda of Cieneguilla
The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the royal road of the interior, ran for more than two thousand kilometres from Mexico City north to Santa Fe in present-day New Mexico, and for close to three centuries it carried silver south and settlers, soldiers, priests and goods north. Along it grew towns, missions, bridges and haciendas, and the former hacienda of Cieneguilla, on the high plain in the state of Aguascalientes, is one of the places inscribed by UNESCO in 2010 as part of that route.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Former hacienda of Cieneguilla is where the day begins. Next is Former hacienda of Peñuelas.
2. Former hacienda of Peñuelas
South of the city of Aguascalientes, on the high plateau of central Mexico, the former hacienda of Peñuelas stands among fields and scrub, its stone and adobe buildings, chapel and courtyards a reminder of the great rural estates that once dominated the region. It was one of the stops on the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the royal road from Mexico City to the silver mines of Zacatecas and beyond to New Mexico, and it is part of the UNESCO listing of sites along the road, inscribed in 2010.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Former hacienda of Peñuelas comes up 40 km in. Next is Historic ensemble of the city of Aguascali.
3. Historic ensemble of the city of Aguascali
Aguascalientes means hot waters, and the city got its name from the thermal springs that the Spanish found here in the sixteenth century, when they founded a settlement on the road from Mexico City to the silver mines of Zacatecas. That road, the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, ran north for over two thousand kilometres to Santa Fe in New Mexico, and it is listed by UNESCO, with sites along its route. The historic centre of Aguascalientes is a pleasant mix of colonial churches, eighteenth-century houses and nineteenth-century buildings around the Plaza de la Patria and its cathedral.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
79 km in you reach Historic ensemble of the city of Aguascali. Next is Former hacienda of Pabellón de Hidalgo.
4. Former hacienda of Pabellón de Hidalgo
Pabellón de Hidalgo is a small town in the north of the state of Aguascalientes, and its old hacienda has a moment of national drama attached to it. In January 1811, after the insurgent army of Miguel Hidalgo was routed by royalist forces at the Battle of Puente de Calderón near Guadalajara, the retreating leaders met here, at the Hacienda de San Blas de Pabellón. Exhausted and defeated, they stripped Hidalgo of his military command and handed it to Ignacio Allende, who had long resented the priest's leadership. A few weeks later both were captured in the north, and by the summer both had been executed. The War of Independence would go on for another decade without them.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Former hacienda of Pabellón de Hidalgo, about halfway. Next is Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.
5. Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
South of Zacatecas, on the high plateau of northern Mexico, the old Camino Real de Tierra Adentro passes through a landscape of dry hills, maize fields and mesquite. This was the royal road of the interior, the great artery that ran from Mexico City for more than two and a half thousand kilometres north to Santa Fe, in what is now New Mexico, and it was the backbone of Spanish colonial expansion. Wagons and mule trains carried the silver from the mines of Zacatecas and Guanajuato south to the capital and the coast, while settlers, soldiers, priests and goods made their way north. Along the route, haciendas, chapels, bridges and towns grew up, and today sixty sites, including the historic centre of Zacatecas, form a World Heritage route.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 293 km.
Leg by leg
Former hacienda of Cieneguilla to Former hacienda of Peñuelas
Former hacienda of Cieneguilla → Former hacienda of Peñuelas is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Former hacienda of Peñuelas to Historic ensemble of the city of Aguascali
Former hacienda of Peñuelas → Historic ensemble of the city of Aguascali is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic ensemble of the city of Aguascali to Former hacienda of Pabellón de Hidalgo
Historic ensemble of the city of Aguascali → Former hacienda of Pabellón de Hidalgo is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Former hacienda of Pabellón de Hidalgo to Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
Former hacienda of Pabellón de Hidalgo → Camino Real de Tierra Adentro is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Camino Real de Tierra Adentro to back through Former hacienda of Pabellón de Hidalgo
Camino Real de Tierra Adentro → back through Former hacienda of Pabellón de Hidalgo is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Former hacienda of Pabellón de Hidalgo to back through Historic ensemble of the city of Aguascali
back through Former hacienda of Pabellón de Hidalgo → back through Historic ensemble of the city of Aguascali is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historic ensemble of the city of Aguascali to back through Former hacienda of Peñuelas
back through Historic ensemble of the city of Aguascali → back through Former hacienda of Peñuelas is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Former hacienda of Peñuelas to Former hacienda of Cieneguilla
back through Former hacienda of Peñuelas → Former hacienda of Cieneguilla is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.