El Camino Real is a 600-mile (965-kilometer) commemorative route connecting the 21 Spanish missions in California, along with a number of sub-missions, four presidios, and three pueblos. Historically associated with the Calle Real which terminates in Mexico City, as the former capital of New Spain and the seat of royal power for Las Californias, its southern end in the modern U.S. state of California is at Mission San Diego de Alcalá and its northern terminus is at Mission San Francisco Solano.

The Spanish missions in California formed a series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. The missions were established by Catholic priests of the Franciscan order to evangelize indigenous peoples backed by the military force of the Spanish Empire. The missions were part of the expansion and settlement of New Spain through the formation of Alta California, expanding the empire into the most northern and western parts of Spanish North America. Civilian settlers and soldiers accompanied missionaries and formed settlements like the Pueblo de Los Ángeles.