Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
decade campaign to drive them from the area. The mid-19th century also marked the brief
tenure of the Butterfield Overland Mail Route. Guadalupe Mountains National Park was
established in 1972.
Geology
A geologist's dream, Guadalupe Mountains National Park sits amid the world's most ex-
tensive exposed fossil reef. In fact, the mountains contain the world's best example of a
260- to 270-million-year-old exposed rock layer, the Guadalupian Global Stratotype. The
reef began to grow 250 million years ago when an immense tropical ocean covered parts
of Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Over a period of five million years, lime-secreting
marine organisms built the horseshoe-shaped reef to a length of 400 miles. After the sea
evaporated, the reef was buried in sediment for millions more years, until a mountain-
building geological uplift revealed part of it as the Guadalupe Mountains.
Sights
The Pinery
Check out the ruins of a Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach stop via an easy and
wheelchair-accessible 0.75-mile round-trip trail leading from the Pine Springs visitor cen-
ter. Despite its remote location, the Pinery is the only remaining Butterfield station ruin
standing close to a major highway. The ruins are fragile and climbing on them is forbid-
den.
HISTORIC SITE
Frijole Ranch & Museum
( museum 8am-4:30pm)
The Frijole Ranch & Museum, a mile or so northeast of Pine
Springs, has historical exhibits inside an old ranch house that give some good insight into
what it must have been like to live in such a remote location. A tiny, one-room school-
house nearby might just make your kids appreciate how good they've got it.
MUSEUM
Activities
Interpretive programs are held on summer evenings in the Pine Springs campground am-
phitheater, as well as several times a week during the spring. Topics depend on the
rangers' interests, but they have included everything from stargazing to geology.
