How long does a Good Friday pilgrimage take?

On Good Friday in New Mexico, thousands will rise early to pilgrimage to holy sites throughout the state.

Here’s a look at how long those journeys take.

Chimayó

El Santuario de Chimayó is in the village of Chimayó, which is a 35-minute drive or nine-hour walk from Santa Fe. The 26-mile journey is usually along U.S. 84/285, to Highway 503, and along 503 until County Road 98.

Like other pilgrimages, people making a journey to Chimayó may start from their own town, which at times is even farther away than Santa Fe, or they may get dropped off closer to the shrine, making a 10-, 5- or 1-mile walk.

Chimayó includes the Lord of Esquipulas Chapel, with el pocito — a pit of dirt believed to have healing properties — and the Santo Niño de Atocha Chapel.

Tomé Hill

The journey up and down Tomé Hill is 1.1 miles with a 360-foot elevation gain. All Trails estimates the walk takes 40 minutes. Walkers also start from their own homes, towns or churches.

Jerry Baca, a deacon at Our Lady of Belen who made a Good Friday pilgrimage for 30 years, usually starts from Our Lady of Belen, walks down from 10th Street to Rincon and then down Rincon to Highway 47, which is a straight route to Tomé Hill Street. That road leads right up to the hill. Traveling from Belen, up the hill and back down the hill is 14 miles, he said.

Baca likes to start around 6 a.m., depending on the light. He doesn’t like to start in too much darkness for safety reasons.

San Lorenzo

San Lorenzo is a small adobe church in Polvadera, just north of Socorro. There is not an officially organized Good Friday pilgrimage to the church, but hundreds journey there every year.

Good Friday walkers choose many different paths, but most walk from the San Miguel Mission in Socorro to San Lorenzo, an 11.7-mile journey that takes four hours and 14 minutes to walk, according to a Google Maps estimate. Other pilgrims do the walk in reverse, beginning at San Lorenzo early in the morning and traveling south to San Miguel. Much of the path is along I-25.

“If you are looking for a pilgrimage on Good Friday that is not as busy as Chimayó or Tomé Hill, come a little further south and come to San Lorenzo. I think you will find what you’re looking for,” said Nadine Ulibarri-Keller, San Lorenzo mayordomo.

Most walkers are finished with the journey by 3 or 4 p.m. at the latest, Ulibarri-Keller said.

Mt. Cristo Rey

The Mt. Cristo Rey pilgrimage starts near the Highway 478 exit for Sunland Park. There is essentially one path up the mountain. The earlier attendees arrive, the closer they are able to park at the entrance, said Ruben Escandon, public information officer for the Mt. Cristo Rey Restoration Committee.

The 2.5-mile trail typically takes an hour and a half for someone in decent shape, Escandon said. The crowds can slow down the pace, but Escandon estimates the walk up takes an hour and a half, while the walk down is closer to one hour and 15 minutes, for a roughly two- to three-hour round trip.