Coronado, New Mexico's first state historic site to open to the public, was dedicated on May 29, 1940, as part of the Cuarto Centenario commemoration (400th Anniversary) of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado's entry into New Mexico. It is located along New Mexico Highway 550, 1 mile west of Bernalillo and 16 miles north of Albuquerque. The visitor center itself was designed by Southwest architect John Gaw Meem and contains displays of Pueblo Indian and Spanish Colonial artifacts. An interpretive trail winds through the ruins and along the west bank of the Rio Grande.