Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Infobox_protected_area | name = Guadalupe Mountains National Park
iucn_category = II

---

caption =
locator_x = 94
locator_y = 134
location = Culberson County and Hudspeth County, Texas, USA
nearest_city = Carlsbad, New Mexico
lat_degrees = 31
lat_minutes = 55
lat_seconds = 0
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 104
long_minutes = 52
long_seconds = 0
long_direction = W
area = convert|86416|acre
established = September 30, 1972
visitation_num = 165,110
visitation_year = 2007
governing_body = National Park Service

Guadalupe Mountains National Park is located in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas and contains Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at convert|8749|ft in elevation. It also contains El Capitan, long used as a landmark by people traveling along the old route later followed by the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line. Visitors can see the ruins of an old stagecoach station near the Pine Springs Visitor Center. Camping is available nearby at the Pine Springs Campground. The restored Frijole Ranch House is now a small museum of local ranching history and is the trailhead for Smith Spring. The park covers convert|135|sqmi and is in the same mountain range as Carlsbad Caverns National Park which is located about convert|80|mi to the north in New Mexico.

The park also contains McKittrick Canyon. During the Fall, McKittrick comes alive with a blaze of color from the turning Bigtooth Maples, in stark contrast with the surrounding Chihuahuan desert. A trail in the canyon leads to the cabin of Wallace Pratt, a petroleum geologist who donated the land in order to establish the park.

For details on the area's geology, see Delaware Basin.

External links

*Official site: [http://www.nps.gov/gumo/index.htm Guadalupe Mountains National Park]
*Weather Data: [http://raws.wrh.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/roman/meso_base.cgi?stn=GDBT2&time=LOCAL Weather Station in The Bowl]