Guadalupe Mountains

Guadalupe Peak, at 8,751 feet, is the highest point in Texas, and it's not a typical mountain at all but the exposed remnant of a massive Permian-age reef that formed at the edge of a tropical sea roughly 260 million years ago, long before the Rocky Mountains existed. El Capitan, the sheer limestone cliff at the range's southern tip, served as a landmark for travelers for centuries, from Indigenous peoples through the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach route in the 1850s.

McKittrick Canyon, often called the most beautiful spot in Texas, cuts a green ribbon through the surrounding desert, with maple trees that turn brilliant red and orange each fall in a display that draws visitors from across the state during a narrow window in late October and November. The canyon's gate closes strictly at dusk, one of the more firmly enforced rules in the park, since the access road beyond it is otherwise unlit and remote.

Come for the highest point in the state. Stay for McKittrick Canyon, if your timing allows it. Read the story, plan around the gate hours, and when you leave, collect the stamp.