The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail enters the Presidio here at Mountain Lake. The trail continues north to the edge of San Francisco, commemorating the route followed by the de Anza's expedition from Sonora, Mexico to the Golden Gate.
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the largest of the California State Parks and protects a crossroads of desert landscapes and ecosystems. It is located on the traditional homelands of the Cocopah and Cuahuilla. The park contains a particularly dramatic and scenic section of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail.
Rising from the Sonoran Desert floor near the Gila River is one of the largest prehistoric structures ever built in North America. Its purpose remains a mystery, though many have tried to understand and explain its existence. Members of the Anza expedition visited the site in October of 1775 and recorded the measurements of the ruins and transcribed a partial story narrated by an O'odham (Gila Pima) leader.
The Colorado River State Historic Park preserves and interprets the complex and dynamic history of Yuma and the Colorado River, including the Anza expedition who crossed the Colorado River near here in November of 1775. Anza Trail Passport Stamp #12 is located in the Colorado River State Historic Park Visitor Center.
Starting in 1852, the United States government went lighthouse-crazy, funding the construction of 59 lighthouses along the California coast. At this early date, the Fort Point light was one of 13 serving the San Francisco Bay. The original light was built and destroyed in 1853. Army engineers blew up the bluff it stood on to make way for the construction of Fort Point. A second lighthouse, built near the water in 1855, was removed to permit seawall construction.
Historic ranch along the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. The site is on the National Register of Historic Places and includes historic campsite #15 of the Anza expedition.
The Spanish founded Mission San Juan Bautista as the 15th mission in 1797. One of the oldest buildings in San Juan Bautista’s Third Street Historic District and a National Historic Landmark in its own right is the Juan de Anza House or Casa Juan de Anza Adobe that dates from 1834 during the period of Mexican control.
Mission San Xavier del Bac is an important site along the Anza Trail and an iconic image of southern Arizona. It is located on the Tohono O'odham Nation and the mission church is intimately linked to the history of the people who have claimed this land as home for centuries.
Mountain Lake Park is a city park that's an awesome place to bring the kiddos. There's swings, slides and things to climb, and all tucked away in a quiet neighborhood.
The Museum of Sonora History in Álamos, Sonora, includes interpretation and information about the Anza Expedition. An Anza NHT Passport Stamp is also found here.
Picacho Peak is a prominent landmark and an integral piece of the cultural landscape in southern Arizona. It is an Arizona State Park and an official NPS Anza NHT Passport Stamp can be found here at the visitor center.
The Presidio San Agustín del Tucson Museum is a re-creation of the Tucson Presidio built in 1775, the same year that the Anza expedition passed through along the Santa Cruz River along the overland route that would establish the city of San Francisco and Spanish power in Alta California. An Anza NHT Passpost Stamp is located here.
Only accessible during guided tours, the Calabazas mission site offers an excellent perspective on the adaptive re-use of mission-era buildings through the Civil War period and beyond.
The Santa Cruz River is an international waterway. It begins in the San Rafael Valley, flows southward into Mexico, then makes a U-turn back into the United States. Here, it flows from south to north, eventually joining the Gila River. The river creates essential habitat and a wildlife corridor for threatened and endangered species.
Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area celebrates the region’s natural resources, rich history, and heritage shaped by generations of Native American, Spanish, and Mexican cultures.
Stop 12 of the cell phone tour for the main grounds at the John Muir National Historic Site, which houses the Martinez Adobe. This stop includes interpretive information about the history of the Anza Expedition, part of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail.
Tubac Presidio State Historic Park is a Spanish Colonial site in Arizona and a Certified Interpretive Site on the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. An Anza NHT Passport Stamp is available at the visitor center. The site also provides trailhead access to a portion of the Anza Recreational Trail.
The Santa Cruz River has long been a highway of trade and travel. Prehistoric people followed the river to trade with neighbors. The O’odham farmed along the river, using the floodplain and low banks to grow crops. Later, missionaries and explorers would rely on these existing networks to colonize the area.
The mission community included housing for the mission residents and the priest, workshops, class rooms, a cemetery, a mortuary chapel, an irrigation system, gardens, orchards, and grazing lands. In fact, a mission did not always have a church. Tumacácori was established as a mission in 1691, but it did not have a dedicated church building until 1756, over sixty years later.
The Colorado River crossing at Yuma, Arizona, has a rich history, accented in recent years by irrigation works that have transformed the region into an agricultural oasis. But in the process, riparian areas suffered and the riverfront became blighted. Today, Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area is working to restore the region’s wetlands and reconnect the city to its historic downtown.
