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Top Attractions in Guadalupe Mountains National Park

McKittrick Canyon

McKittrick Canyon is a scenic canyon within the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas and Eddy County, New Mexico. The steep towering walls of McKittrick Canyon protect a rich riparian oasis in the midst of the Chihuahuan Desert. The majority of McKittrick Canyon is part of Guadalupe Mountains National Park but is separated from the main park area and managed as a "day-use only" area with limited visitation hours. However, a large part of North McKittrick Canyon is located in the Guadalupe Ranger District of Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico. Access to McKittrick Canyon is via a 4.2-mile gated side road that leads to the mouth of McKittrick Canyon from U.S. Route 62/180. Here the National Park Service maintains a parking area, restroom facilities, and visitor center, which is staffed most of the year by volunteers.

El Capitan

El Capitan is a peak in Culberson County, Texas, United States, within Guadalupe Mountains National Park. It is the eighth highest peak in Texas, and rises abruptly out of the Chihuahuan Desert floor; it is considered the "signature peak" of West Texas. El Capitan is the southern terminus of the Guadalupe escarpment, an ancient limestone reef that forms the present-day Guadalupe Mountains. El Capitan is guarded by cliffs on three sides, and those faces are rarely climbed due to the unstable condition of the rock and the sheer nature of the peak. Hikers can scramble up to the summit by first climbing to near the summit of Guadalupe Peak and scrambling down to the south to the Guadalupe Peak-El Capitan saddle, then up the backside of El Capitan. Used as a signal peak for hundreds of years by travelers in the area, its sheer face is visible when approaching the Headquarters Visitor Center at Guadalupe Mountains National Park from both the south and the northeast.

Pinery Station

Pinery Station, or The Pinery, was built as a relay station on the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach route, located at the crest of Guadalupe Pass in what is now Guadalupe Mountains National Park in the U.S. state of Texas. The station, now in ruins, was built in 1858 and was abandoned the next year. It is located close by US 62/160 and is accessible for tourists. The station location had been a camp for military expeditions since 1849. The station was built as a fortification with stone walls protecting a corral and a second enclosure for the three-room station house. The corral measured 67 feet by 33 feet , while the station house enclosure measured 57 feet by 41 feet . The station house rooms measured between 10 feet square and 10 feet by 14 feet . The walls were 30 inches thick and 11 feet high, giving protection from raids by the local Mescalero Apaches. The station was located near Pine Spring and featured good grazing land nearby. The station offered fresh teams of horses and hot meals for stage crews and passengers. In 1859 the trail was moved to pass close to Fort Davis and Fort Stockton. Even after its abandonment it was used by passers-by on the old trail. The Pinery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 9, 1974.

Wallace Pratt Lodge

The Wallace Pratt Lodge was the summer residence of Wallace Pratt, the principal donor of the lands that would become Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Pratt was a petroleum geologist employed by the Humble Oil Company, scouting for oilfield leases in west Texas. Pratt visited the Guadalupe Mountains in 1921, and taking a liking to the place, he bought a quarter share of the McCombs Ranch. In 1929 Pratt bought out his partners, ending up owning a large portion of the canyon, which featured waterfalls flowing over travertine dams, a lush, quiet place in the high desert. In the winter of 1931-1932 Pratt started construction of a house in the canyon, designed by Houston architect Joseph Staub. The cabin was built by Staub's former employee Vance Phenix and Vance's brother Dean, a carpenter, with stonemason Adolph May. The cabin was built of local limestone and heart pine. The Pratt family spent summers at the cabin, which they called the Stone Cabin, and briefly lived at the cabin during Wallace Pratt's early retirement, while they built their final retirement home, the Ship On The Desert, outside of the canyon. The cabin accommodated the Ship on the Desert's architect during its construction. After the family moved to Tucson, Arizona, they donated the cabin, new house and surrounding lands of more than 5,000 acres to the National Park Service, the nucleus of Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The cabin was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 26, 1975.

Wallace E. Pratt House

The Wallace E. Pratt House, also known as Ship On The Desert , was the residence of Wallace Pratt in what is now Guadalupe Mountains National Park in far western Texas. Pratt, a petroleum geologist for the Humble Oil & Refining Company, had previously built the Wallace Pratt Lodge in McKittrick Canyon a couple of miles to the north in the Guadalupe Mountains. Finding the cabin site to be remote and prone to being cut off by flooding, Pratt started construction of a new, modern residence on the east slope of the mountains. Work on the residence started in 1941. The house was designed by Long Island architect Newton Bevin, who lived for a time at the site with his wife, and built by contractor Ed Birdsall. Work was stopped by World War II, but resumed in 1945 and was completed the same year. In contrast to Pratt's rustic canyon cabin, the house, which Pratt named the Ship On The Desert, is an International Style house with horizontal lines and extensive glazing. Only 16 feet wide and 110 feet long, the house provides broad views to the east over the plans and the west to the mountains. The majority of the house is on a single level, with a "captain's bridge" over the dining room giving access to a rooftop terrace. A detached garage contained a guest bedroom. Apart from glass, the predominant material was local limestone in several shades. Pratt and his wife, Iris, lived at the Ship On The Desert until 1963, when Pratt's health dictated a move to Tucson, Arizona. The house was donated to the new park along with 5,632 acres of lands in the northern part of the proposed park by the Pratts between 1959 and 1961. It was used as a residence for National Park Service employees, and has been determined to be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The house is occasionally open for tours sponsored by the National Park Service.
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