Operated by the Texas Historical Commission, the site includes a campground, museum, gift shop and hiking trails.

Located on Ayish Bayou, the small contingent of priests and soldiers worked to convert the native Ais Indians to Roman Catholicism.

Due to the extreme distance from the Spanish government in Mexico City, the missionaries often traded illegally with the closer French traders in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

Dr. James Corbin of Stephen F. Austin State University led several field schools in the area and finally scientifically confirmed the location of Mission Dolores.

However, Corbin was able to locate middens, wells, post holes and other features associated with the mission and recovered numerous 18th century artifacts.

Recent technology has also been able to confirm the existence of an intact segment of El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail on the property, which would have run directly through the mission compound.

In the late nineties, the City of San Augustine received a grant to construct a museum, campground and archeology laboratory on the site.

Future plans for the site include renovating and updating the museum exhibits, installing interpretive signage on the trails, and potentially constructing a historically accurate mission building.