Wyler Aerial Tramway

Compiled by Texas Master Naturalists – Trans-Pecos Chapter Wyler Aerial Tramway 3 2 35 4 S TAT E PA R K 34 7 OR O 32 8 GR AN KLIN M OUNT AINS CA N FRAN RD . 0° N 10 270° YO N 6 W INTERSTATE 10 RIO GRANDE N 1 EL PASO, TX , NM PAR K AND SUN L GO 90° 25 LI 9 30 EL O RC A AS 12 24 FAU LT TE 10 INTERSTA 21 22 RIO GRANDE 13 18 14 23 CIUDAD JAUREZ, MEXICO 15 20 17 16 19 This illustration represents a 360° view of the area surrounding El Paso, Texas, in the United States and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, in Mexico. Use it and the table inside to help you identify some of the natural features visible from Ranger Peak. Wyler Aerial Tramway takes visitors up 940 vertical feet to Ranger Peak, part of Franklin Mountains State Park. 11 EL P ASO , TX 62 US 28 CK 180° 29 54 27 A 360° View of El Paso M E 26 ,T X US 5 S 31 33 DE Wyler Aerial Tramway State Park 1700 McKinley Street El Paso, TX 79930 (915) 566-6622 www.tpwd.texas.gov/wyleraerialtram The site is a tremendous resource for the community, serving as a tool for education of people of all ages and providing opportunities to appreciate this region’s magnificent natural features from a bird’s-eye view. 34 33 31 32 30 29 28 26 27 25 24 23 22 20 21 19 18 17 14 15 16 13 11 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Sierra de las Uvas Black Range Cook’s Peak Black Mountain Aden Crater Kilbourne Hole Florida Mountains West Potrillo Mountains Mt. Riley East Potrillo Mountains Mt. Cristo Rey Crazy Cat Mountain Sierra de Juárez Rio Grande Comanche Peak Candelaria Peak Samalayuca Mountains Bosque del Chamizal Samalayuca Sand Dunes Renteria Peak Presidio Mountains Sierra San Ignacia Quitman Mountains Sierra Blanca Peak, TX Wind Mountain Cerro Alto Hueco Bolson Sacramento Mountains Jarilla Mountains Jobe Quarry McKelligon Canyon/ Sugar Loaf Peak Sierra Blanca Peak, NM White Sands South Franklin Peak Ranger Peak Range between Las Cruces and Hatch, NW, 65 miles away. Emory Pass is visible in the saddle between the two forested peaks. The range’s name comes from its dark appearance compared to the dry Chihuahuan desert below. At 8,408 ft. above sea level, this is an isolated outlier of the Black Range 90 miles away. A small deposit of lead-silver ore was discovered a the base in the 1870s. About 22 miles away, this small lava vent has accumulated a large sand dune deposited by winds from the west. Lava flowed from this vent to create the malpais (lava field) that extends south to Kilbourne Hole. Molten lave met groundwater to create a violent steam eruption that excavated this maar (broad, shallow crater) about 30 miles away. Rockhound State Park in New Mexico on the north side of this range is a treasure trove of gems and minerals and provides a good sampling of the region’s vast mineral wealth. Florida Peak is 7,295 ft. high, about 70 miles away. Located in south-central Dona Ana County, NM, these igneous mountains are about 40 miles away. Most of them are located on property managed by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the Organ Mountains—Desert Peaks National Monument. The tallest (5,905 ft.) of the two large cinder cones, 36 miles to the west. Black lava at about 2,000°F rose from as deep as 50 miles below the surface several hundred thousand years ago. About 47 mya an intrusion of igneous andesite pushed up through surrounding Cretaceous sedimentary rock to form this mountain, 4 miles away. Atop the 4,675 ft. peak, the cross of Cristo Rey is 33.5 feet high and rests on a 9-foot base. It was sculpted by Urbici Soler out of Austin Limestone. A mass of Montoya Dolomite and Fusselman Limestone over 600 ft. thick and 1.5 miles long slid off from the top of the Franklins quite suddenly more than 1 mya. Composed mostly of Cretaceous sedimentary rocks, this range began to be uplifted and moved north about 50 mya. During this process the rock strata were dramatically folded – look for a large fold just to the right of the white lettering. The highest peaks are about 6,000 ft. above sea level, 8 miles to the southwest. The North American plate is pulling apart along the Rio Grande Rift, through which the river flows. Originally, it fed a huge shallow lake that covered all of the low-lying area around El Paso. About 1 mya, this lake (Cabeza de Vaca) overflowed near the Quitman Mountains and the present Rio Grande Valley was formed. The base of the radio tower is about 5,220 ft. above sea level and slightly more than a half mile away. About 56 miles away. About 38 miles away, these mountains abound with petroglyphs (prehistoric rock art). This forest, planted in the 1960s on the former flood plain of the Rio Grande, is home to the area’s largest concentration of trees. The dunes cover about 5 square miles and are home to many archaeological sites, 210 plant species, and over 250 species of animals. Sand grains are blown from west to east, where they are stopped by the Sierra de Presidio and form dunes up to 550 ft. high. About 54 miles due south. Located southwest of Ciudad Juárez, this range is about 30 miles away. About 45 miles away in Mexico. Just south of the town of Sierra Blanca 75 miles away, these mountains were uplifted during the Late Cretaceous period, 60 mya. The tallest (6,894) of the three distinctive conical, volcanic peaks in the Sierra Blanca Range, 73 miles away. This is the highest peak in the Cornudas Mountains (7,280 ft.), just north of the TX-NM border, 60 miles away. Most of the Hueco Range is composed of Permian age limestone, but Cerro Alto is a much younger igneous intrusion, about 46 million years old. It stands at 6,717 feet, 32 miles to the east. As the Franklins were uplifted, the adjacent area to the east sank. The bolson (“big pocket”) is a deep ravine that has filled in with sediments over 9,000 ft. deep. The ancestral Rio Grande flowed here and left behind deposits from which El Paso gets much of its present water supply. This range is home to the Lincoln National Forest and the Mescalero Apache Reservation. Small deposits of turquoise, gold and lead have been mined in these mountains near Orogrande, NM, 48 miles away. The highest point is 5,280 ft. above sea level. Limestone and red granite are quarried at this site. Sugar Loaf Peak slipped off the face of the Franklins along the McKelligon Canyon Fault as the range was uplifted. At 11,973 ft., this huge volcanic mountain in the Sacramento range rises above timberline into alpine tundra about 115 miles away. The world’s largest gypsum dune field is 70 miles to the north in New Mexico and about 4,000 ft. above sea level. The second-highest peak in the Franklin Mountains, 4 miles away. This range was formed as compressed forces uplifted and tilted the rock beginning 40 mya. You are here, 5,632 ft. above sea level. 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