"The Jornada del Muerto (Spanish for "single day's journey of the dead man"[1][2] hence "route of the dead man"[3]) in the U.S. state of New Mexico was the name given by the Spanish conquistadors to a desert basin and the particularly dry 100-mile (160 km) stretch of the route through it leading northward from central New Spain (modern-day Mexico) to the farthest reaches of the colony in northern Nuevo México. This route became El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. The Jornada del Muerto runs between the Oscura and San Andres Mountains on the east, with the Caballo Mountains and the Fra Cristóbal Range on the west. The name Jornada del Muerto Volcano refers to a shield volcano and lava field, about 10 by 15 miles (16 by 24 km) in size and reaching an elevation of 5,136 ft (1,565 m), located at the northern end of the desert basin."