Franklin MountainsBrochure |
Interpretive Guide of Franklin Mountains State Park (SP) in Texas. Published by Texas Parks & Wildlife.
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INTERPRETIVE GUIDE
FRANKLIN
MOUNTAINS
STATE PARK
Opportunities for mountain biking
abound in the Tom Mays Unit.
AT OVER 26,000 ACRES, FRANKLIN
MOUNTAINS STATE PARK IS ONE OF
THE LARGEST URBAN WILDERNESS
PARKS IN THE WORLD—AN
I M P O R T A N T PARCEL OF NATURE
CONTAINING
AN
ENTIRE
CHIHUAHUAN DESERT MOUNTAIN
RANGE—ALL WITHIN THE CITY
LIMITS OF EL PASO. WORLD-CLASS
GEOLOGY, DIVERSE PLANTS AND
ANIMALS, AND COLORFUL HUMAN
A greater earless lizard
soaks up the desert sun.
Located within one of the largest international border
communities in the Western Hemisphere—El Paso, Texas
and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua—Franklin Mountains
State Park offers many opportunities for its visitors.
Escape the city and enjoy a respite in nature as you watch
lizards, birds, deer and other wildlife. Soak up the desert
sun amid vibrant desert wildflowers. Ponder the marvels
of geologic time and the march of people and cultures who
came before. Hike, bike, climb, picnic, and enjoy primitive
camping. Answer the call of the mountains!
Franklin Mountains State Park
2900 Tom Mays Access Road, El Paso, TX 79911
(915) 566-6441 • www.tpwd.texas.gov/franklin
HISTORY AWAIT ITS VISITORS.
COME AND EXPLORE; ANSWER THE
CALL OF THE MOUNTAINS!
OO
OO
© 2023 TPWD. PWD BR P4501-124G (7/23)
O
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gov/nondiscrimination or call (512) 389-4800 for information on filing a complaint. To obtain information in an alternative format, contact TPWD on a Text
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This publication can be found at tpwd.texas.gov/park-pubs
F R A N K L I N
M O U N T A I N S
S T A T E
HUMAN HISTORY
T
he Franklin Mountains, the northern parapet
of the Paso del Norte (Pass of the North), have
long attracted a parade of people and cultures.
Prehistoric inhabitants visited the mountains from
approximately 12,000 years ago until their encounters with
the Spanish in the late 1500s. The mountains provided
most of the basic necessities of life for native peoples,
including stone for tools and weapons, plants and animals
for food and clothing, and infrequent springs for water.
They left their mark in the form of isolated rock paintings
and deep bedrock mortar pits used to grind seeds.
Beginning in the mid-1800s, resources within the park
supported various ranching and mining activities. Scattered stone corrals and wire fences throughout the park
evidence the struggles of early settlers who battled harsh
desert conditions and even bandits in their quest to raise
livestock. The ruins of a small sheep-ranching complex
endure in the Hitt Canyon drainage. Mine shafts dot the
east and west sides, while old gravel and quartz quarries
mark the north and south.
El Paso Tin Mining and Smelting Company operated within
current park boundaries during 1910 and 1911—the only tin
mine in production within the continental United States.
© University of Texas at El Paso Library, Special Collections
P A R K
The southwestern barrel cactus
reaches the easternmost extent
of its range in the Franklins.
GEOLOGY
Geologists classify the Franklins
as a good example of tilted
block-fault mountains. This
mountain type begins to form
when near-vertical faults fracture
a section of the Earth’s crust.
Then, the landmass between the faults thrusts upward and
tilts sharply under tremendous tectonic force. The resulting
diagonal rock layers are easy to pick out on the mountains’
eastern slopes.
The Franklins’ exposed geologic layers are important because
they shed light on 1.25 billion years of the past. Precambrian
rock, the oldest on the planet, is found in several areas within
the park. Imagine— picnickers in the Tom Mays Unit eat
their sandwiches and chew their energy bars while sitting in
the midst of Precambrian deposits formed when life on Earth
consisted only of one-celled organisms.
Although most Franklin Mountains rock is sedimentary
(deposited when the region was covered by water), visitors can
see igneous rock as well. For example, the red granite bordering
much of Transmountain Road formed millions of years ago
from seven separate volcanic intrusions, when magma pulsed
upward from deep within the earth but did not break through
to the surface. Park visitors may hike to see Aztec Caves, a
popular destination to see this ancient granite.
BIODIVERISTY
At first glance the Franklin Mountains may appear barren
and desolate, but upon closer investigation visitors will
discover a wealth of plant and animal life. The physical
diversity of the mountains themselves accounts in part
for this high biodiversity. Elevations range from about
4,000 to over 7,000 feet and landforms range from dry
lowland bajadas and foothills to shaded canyons and
craggy peaks. Widely differing plants and animals
occupy these varied habitats. For example, desert grassland and creosotebush cover the lowlands, whereas the
cooler peaks and moister canyons support dense shrubs,
oak, juniper, and even an endemic snail that dates to the
Pleistocene Ice Age.
The Franklin Mountains lie within the northern
Chihuahuan Desert, but other geographic regions exert
influence as well. Watch for the large southwestern barrel
cactus, a Sonoran Desert species, growing up to 6 feet
tall on foothill slopes. New Mexico locust and Gambel’s
oak provide a taste of the Rocky Mountains on high
peaks, although the park’s predominant vegetation is
decidedly Chihuahuan. Notice the abundance of small
cacti, succulents such as yucca, sotol and agave; thorny
shrubs, low grasses
and desert wildflowers—all specially
adapted to survive the
rigors of desert life.
Mexican gold poppies
butter the park’s hillsides
during early spring.