el paso mission trail

We drove along the trail but only had time to go inside the old Socorro mission as the Ysleta and Elizario missions were having masses and we did not want to disturb. The Socorro mission is very nice inside; they had the Christmas tree nicely decorated inside when we were there. This one is worth a visit if you like history and/or old churches.

On Monday, 29DEC2014, I began my annual New Year's bike tour, this time a few days before the actual calendar turn over due to significant extreme weather forecasts.(Last year, I had pedaled on 02JAN2014 toward Cornudas/Dell City, only to be caught in freezing temps & 4-6 inches/10-25cm snow!) I am currently pushing for an effective bicycling route through this region, the Hidden Gem of the World, and have repeatedly pedaled it by section. So the Mission Trail section was the initial beginning of the longer route through Fabens/Ft. Hancock/el Porvenir (Ruta Dos)/San Agustin/Casa de Adobe. How delightful it is to see these active missions/Tigua Culture Center being kept up in fine operating order. The determining stop for me, though, was in the San Elizario Historic District (San Eli Presidio is part of it); being Monday morning meant I had it all to myself. In other words, nothing was open. That's OK; the buildings, signs, & beauty make up for not going inside. It is a wonderful area for respite after pedaling Socorro Road/Mission Trail/FR258, somewhat challenging because it can have numerous (motor) vehicles moving along a road not really built to handle the high volume. Regardless, one cannot appreciate the Mission Trail until you have pedaled it!

Beautiful architecture and worth going off I-10 for! I will say that I felt like we were in Mexico rather than USA. Even a local man said to me, "No spanish? This is Mexico City!" LOL!

Unlike the San Antonio Missions, this Mission Trail is short and sweet. Since all three Missions are functioning churches and not primarily historical sites, there aren't many exhibits or things to read about. They make up for that by being gorgeous buildings with great character.I did not run into any problems with the churches being closed like others have mentioned, but I understand from talking to others that have visited that that can be an issue.

The mission churches were beautiful and historic. Visit all three on the trail to get the best experience. Nice drive between each.

We started our visit at the Mission Valley Visitors Center 9065 Alameda Ave, El Paso, TX. Their website stated the hours were from 9AM-4PM. We arrived slightly before noon and there was nobody around. We checked a few doors to see if we were at the wrong entrance still everything was locked. Just as we were about to drive off another car arrived. It ended up being a very nice man who was in change of the visitors center. I guess he had gone to the bank or something. He provided us with a lot of information and gave us good directions to each mission. All three of them were open and we were able to tour each one. At Socorro there is a Gift Shop with a very knowledgeable lady who works there. She gave us some inside information on the church. She has attended mass at this church since she was a little girl and still attends there now. I read in several other posts where people had a hard time finding the missions. There is a website http://www.visitelpasomissiontrail.com/plan/directions.html that has great directions and also tells a little bit about the missions. I followed their directions not my GPS and we had no problems. There are also many brown signs marking the mission trail. All 3 churches are beautiful inside. I was able to take several pictures without using a flash. I am not catholic so I don't understand that meaning of everything inside but they are beautiful!.

We like to look at churches and these were ones of historical significance. Unfortunately one was closed and the other two were unavailable to visit. We like the history, but would have liked to have visited them. They are off the main stream, so you have to make an effort to drive out to see them. They are about eight miles apart.

Have been through the mission trail twice and loved it. The missions are beautiful and if you go in the gift shop you can learn a lot from the people who work there.

We took the border highway to the far end of the Mission Trail and worked our way back. If you put the address on the site into your smart phone, you will end up at a vacant storefront in downtown El Paso. I had to look at the map on the website and enter the intersection at the far end. We went on Thursday, and nothing was open along the way. We did get to go into all of the Missions, and the volunteers were very nice and knowledgeable. Stopped in at the Indian Culture Center, and again, nothing was happening. It was an easy jump to I10 from the final Mission and close to where we were staying on the way back.

I expected a little more from the Mission Trail based on the brochure I found in my hotel that mentioned interesting local shops and good food. The missions themselves were pretty and have an interesting history. If there are no services taking place, you can see the interiors as well. Traveling alone, I didn't see any restaurants on the trail that I felt comfortable going to until I reached the final Mission San Elizario. Here there are a few little art galleries hosted by the artists themselves and at the end of the street is the Bandido cafe with covered outdoor seating. Great for a cold beer and a few flautas and you might get to visit with some of the locals there. very friendly and decent food. One of the locals directed me to a dairy a few miles away that carries milk and cheeses used for Chili con Queso. I stopped by and picked some up. its all very non-commercial all along the trail. You definitely want to bring company with you, its kind of a lonely trail to be taking alone.

The missions on the trail are small, far apart, and can be difficult to find. I've enjoyed missions elsewhere, but these seemed somewhat uninspiring. The history behind these missions displayed on the signs outside tell a pretty generic story. I'd recommend passing on these and visiting missions in other cities.

The directions on the website for the mission trail are wrong, and the directions you'll likely get from Google Maps on your phone if you enter El Paso Mission Trail are wrong as well.The signs they have posted when you finally get close are confusing, to say the least. After more than an hour, I only found one of the three missions (Socorro Mission). It was an interesting visit (although the building itself was locked) to see the outside and walk through the cemetery. I believe this is the only one of the three missions with a cemetery.If you have plenty of time to spend searching, you can probably find all three missions on the trail. Good luck.

We live in El Paso and were looking for something interesting to do close to home. I was happy to find The Mission Trail right here. I love visiting historical sites and these missions were impressive. We were able to visit all three sites. They were spread out quite a ways in obscure places, but worth the drive. We went into two buildings, but one seemed to be having a service. The buildings have been fabulously restored. The tapestries, sculptures, and paintings were so detailed and beautiful. We enjoyed looking at the art but also reading about each site’s history on the plaques outside. I would recommend checking out Mission Trail.

EEven if your not really into doing this kind of activity I think this drive is worth doing.. You will be off the main drag and into the scenic route and poking about places you would not normally see. The Missions themselves are beautiful and interesting. A lovely way to spend part of your day.. and ... best of all FREE!!

Amazing how the city started out along the mission trail and three missions still exist with larger churches beside them, still active. The trail is along the Mexican border with interesting homes along the way. The trail is well marked and fun to drive