Visiting the first of the 5 historic missions in San Antonio, TX was easy. The Alamo was just a few steps up from the River Walk.
Visiting the remaining missions, all founded in the 1700s, would give us a chance to ride the bike trails along the river. It was a great plan. We would park at the Mission Espada, just off the loop highway I-410, ride 7 miles to Mission Concepcion, and ride back stopping at the other missions along the way.
And it sure would have been great…if it wasn’t 50 degrees and raining. We decided to see the missions anyway and just rode in our van rather than on our bikes.
The four outer missions shared a level of disrepair of the grounds. Much of the furthest mission, Espada, was in ruins. But the church was still open and active with a religious gift shop and a rectory.
The others were similar with grounds in better shape.
Mission San Juan’s church seemed the best kept with intact stucco and music piped to the area round the church.
Mission San Jose has had the most restoration and most ornate altar.
The mission grounds reminded us of Chaco Canyon with its combination of religious and community use. It also made us think of the Spanish fort in St Augustine, Castillo de Sam Marcos.
We also saw irrigation channels that were built with missions that were still on use.
We spent some time talking to Ranger Katy at the Espada visitor center. She filled us in on the unique partnership between the Texas government, the US Park Service and the Catholic Church that preserves these missions.
We were intrigued that there may be volunteer positions that provide a spot to park your RV. Maybe spending some extended time in San Antonio is in our future…