Guadalupe National Park was day-one of our weekend from San Andres when we also visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The Guadalupe Mountain Range starts in this part of Texas and travels all the way up to Carlsbad. The road that connects the two parks runs along the range and is quite scenic. There are also caves found throughout the range, beyond what you can visit while at Carlsbad. What an interesting and unusual part of the country!
The Guadalupe Mountains are an ancient marine fossil reef that was formed 260 million years ago when there was a vast tropical ocean covering portions of what is now Texas and New Mexico. Eventually, the sea evaporated and the mountain range remained. We drove to the Park from Las Cruces/San Andres NWR through El Paso, Texas. The drive from El Paso to the Guadalupe Mountains was through the flat, barren Chihuahuan Dessert. The highest peak in Texas is Guadalupe Peak (or El Capitan) at 8749 feet and can be hiked here, if you have an entire day to dedicate to that effort. The Guadalupe Range juts up from the desert and is visible from miles away. It is an impressive sight as you drive in from El Paso.
The Butterfield Stage Coach Line began delivering mail to this area in the mid 1880's. The "Pinery" is the remains of an old stagecoach building and is just half-mile from the Visitor's Center in a nice introductory nature trail. It must have been very difficult and uncomfortable to travel through these mountains via horse and stage. The day we were at the Park, the wind was howling. The rangers told us that it was common for the Park to be windy.....the flat desert all around it provide the perfect conditions for high winds.
The Frijole Ranch is part of the Park and was a residence and active farm/ranch before Guadalupe became a National Park. It was a very lush area, due largely to the Manzanita Spring, that they used to irrigate their orchard and farm fields. The spring is still active and feeds into a nice pond, accessible from one of the 80 miles of trails in the Park.
We visited McKittrick's Canyon, famous for its unusual (for this part of the country) trees and fauna. Maple, Ash, Walnut, Oak, Chikeberry trees grow here due to the year-round moisture and hade found in the Canyon. This trail is very popular in the fall when these trees turn colors.....something that you don't find otherwise in Texas.
The tree below is the Texas Madrone, a common site at Guadalupe NP and notable for its red bark and reddish leaves. This tree flowers in the spring and berries in the fall. The native birds feel on these berries through the winter months.
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