McKittrick Canyon is a scenic canyon within the Guadalupe Mountains of

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio. No consensus exists on the boundary betw ...

and

Eddy County, New Mexico Eddy County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 53,829. Its county seat and largest city is Carlsbad. The county was created in 1891 and later organized in 1892. It is north of the Te ...

. The steep, towering walls of McKittrick Canyon protect a rich riparian oasis in the midst of the

Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lo ...

. The majority of McKittrick Canyon is part of

Guadalupe Mountains National Park Guadalupe Mountains National Park is an American national park in the Guadalupe Mountains, east of El Paso, Texas. The mountain range includes Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at , and El Capitan used as a landmark by travelers on the ro ...

, but is separated from the main park area and managed as a day-use only area with limited visitation hours. A large part of North McKittrick Canyon, though, is located in the Guadalupe Ranger District of

Lincoln National Forest Lincoln National Forest is a unit of the U.S. Forest Service located in southern New Mexico. Established by Presidential Proclamation in 1902 as the Lincoln Forest Reserve, the forest begins near the Texas border and contains lands in parts of ...

in New Mexico. Access to McKittrick Canyon is by a 4.2-mile (6.8-km) gated side road that leads to the mouth of McKittrick Canyon from U.S. Route 62/180. Here, the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

maintains a parking area, restroom facilities, and visitor center, which is staffed most of the year by volunteers.

McKittrick Canyon Trail

McKittrick Canyon Trail begins at the visitor center and initially follows a dry stream, crossing the stream bed several times as it works its way up the canyon. At first, the vegetation is more typical of the Chihuahuan Desert with various species of

yucca ''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitis ...

agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...

, and

cacti A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

, such as Spanish dagger (''

Yucca ''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitis ...

faxoniana''), sotol ('' Dasylirion leiophyllum''), ocotillo ('' Fouquieria splendens''), lechuguilla ('' Agave lechuguilla''), century plants (''

Agave americana ''Agave americana'', common names century plant, maguey, or American aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Mexico and the United States in Texas. It is cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant, and has b ...

''), prickly pear (''

Opuntia ''Opuntia'', commonly called prickly pear or pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as ''tuna'' (fruit), ''sabra'', '' nopal'' (paddle, plural ''nopales'') from the Nahuatl word ...

'' spp.), and claret cup cacti (''

Echinocereus triglochidiatus ''Echinocereus triglochidiatus'' is a species of hedgehog cactus known by several common names, including kingcup cactus, claretcup, and Mojave mound cactus. This cactus is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it i ...

''). Scattered among these desert plants are a few hardy pines, junipers, and the occasional Texas madrone ('' Arbutus xalapensis''), an unusual tree with red-colored bark that tends to curl up and peel off each year. As one ascends into the relatively cool and more sheltered environment farther up the canyon, a flowing stream of clear water appears and riparian vegetation becomes more abundant, including deciduous trees such as oak, ash, and bigtooth maple ('' Acer grandidentatum''). During the fall, McKittrick Canyon comes alive with color from the turning foliage of maple and hardwood trees. The bright colors stand in stark contrast to the surrounding Chihuahuan Desert. After a distance of , the path reaches the

Wallace Pratt Lodge The Wallace Pratt Lodge was the summer residence of Wallace Pratt, the principal donor of the lands that would become Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Pratt was a petroleum geologist employed by the Humble Oil Company, scouting for oilfield l ...

that was built by Wallace Everette Pratt (1885-1981), a petroleum geologist who once owned most of McKittrick Canyon. In 1959, Pratt donated of his ranch to the National Park Service, and seven years later, on 15 October 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the act establishing Guadalupe Mountains National Park. On 30 September 1972, Guadalupe Mountains National Park was dedicated and formally opened to the public. Farther up the canyon, the path becomes quite steep as it begins to follow a series of switchbacks, climbing nearly over the next , eventually reaching "the Notch" at an altitude around . From this high point, one can view McKittrick Canyon and the distant desert to the east and South McKittrick Canyon to the west. A portion of the canyon was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

for its archeological importance on 26 September 1991.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Canyons and gorges of Texas Protected areas of Texas National Register of Historic Places in Guadalupe Mountains National Park Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Protected areas of Culberson County, Texas Landforms of Culberson County, Texas National Register of Historic Places in Culberson County, Texas Protected areas of Eddy County, New Mexico Landforms of Eddy County, New Mexico

McKittrick Canyon Trail

See also

References

External links