Texas has always fascinated me. Of course I’m biased as I can be having been so fortunate to be born here. The thing about Texas is that it is literally the crossroads of America. If you drive I-10 from the eastern end of Texas to the west for example, you start out in the piney woods, then break out into coastal plains, then the southern edge of the black dirt country, then the limestone formations of the hill country, then the southern edge of the Llano Estacado, then finally the northern edge of the Chihuahua Desert. Today we’re going to talk about an awesome state park out in West Texas in the northern edge of the Chihuahua Desert!
Dana Le, Flickr Creative Commons
Hueco Tanks are these amazing rock basins that trap rainwater and act as natural cisterns. People and animals have for thousands of years traveled to these tanks for water in that arid country. Well, today they have been preserved as a state park which features only 20 campsites. Entry is $16 per night, and the campsites provide 50 amp hookup, water, a picnic table and communal restrooms. They limit the number of folks per campsite to 6 as well. They also limit the number of people on the self-guided trails to 70 at a time, so you are fairly assured of a peaceful visit to this wonderful park. There are ancient petroglyphs and pictographs to see, and of course you can hike, do some bird watching, or do some rock climbing if you like.
So where is this place? Well, you pretty much have to get there from El Paso. You take Hwy 62 east out of El Paso until you turn left on 2775 and stay on that until you reach the park. You can visit the park also by coming down out of New Mexico, but it is via fairly small roads and I would greatly suggest using the gps, here’s the address: 6900 Hueco Tanks Road No. 1, El Paso TX 79938.