History in the Franklin Mountains
Sotol, yucca and other desert plants cover the hillsides at Mundy’s Gap. Photo Credit: Chase Fountain
This is Passport to Texas
When you think of mountains, do you think of El Paso?
Probably people don’t think of Texas as having mountains. And if they do, they think that they’re in Big Bend. But here, the Franklin Mountains are a pretty, sizable, impressive mountain range worth visiting. And, they’re right there in the city, and really easy to get to.
Melissa Gaskill visited El Paso and Franklin Mountains SP, and wrote about it for the current issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine. The mountains have a rich geologic history—as mountains do—dating back to the Precambrian era; woven into that history… are the human stories.
I do love the fact that there’s really rich history there. It’s not far from Hueco Tanks, which has that really cool rock art. There’s some rock art in this park as well, although it’s not as easy to find. El Paso is a pass between these mountains that people have been passing through for thousands of years. So, it’s also pretty cool people-history-wise.
Not everyone has mountains in their backyards, but El Pasoans do, and Gaskill hopes they explore them.
It’s literally looming over them. I don’t know how many of them take advantage of it, but I hope that maybe this article will encourage more of them to do so. Because it’s so close and it’s so cool. There’s so much there to offer, and they don’t have to drive too far to enjoy [it].
Read the article, Views Around Every Bend, by Melissa Gaskill in the January/February issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.
For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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