Research Guides: Nature Authors: Guadalupe Mountains National Park

National Park Service

Guadalupe Mountains
Wilderness Waiting to be Explored!

Guadalupe Mountains National Park protects the world's most extensive Permian fossil reef, the four highest peaks in Texas, an environmentally diverse collection of flora and fauna, and the stories of lives shaped through conflict, cooperation and survival. Come experience mountains and canyons, desert and dunes, night skies and spectacular vistas within a place unlike any other within the NPS.

Creative Writing Assignment at Guadalupe Mountains National Park

The Guadalupe Mountains of Texas by Alan Tennant (Text by); Michael Allender (Illustrator, Photographer); Larry Henderson (Foreword by)
Call Number: 976.4 TEN
ISBN: 029270481X
Publication Date: 1997-01-01
The Guadalupe Mountains of the Big Bend region of Texas contain some of the wildest and most magnificent scenery of any primordial wilderness area in the world. The 60 spectacular color photographs in this book vividly capture this extraordinary and pristine landscape while providing a splendid visual reference for Alan Tennant's marvelous account of the natural and social History of the area from prehistoric times to the present.
Hiking Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks by Bill Schneider; Falcon Guides Staff
Call Number: 917.0478 SCH
ISBN: 1560444010
Publication Date: 1996-03-01
Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southeastern New Mexico is renowned for its amazing system of limestone caves. Both Carlsbad and the nearby Guadalupe Mountains National Park, just across the state line in Texas, are also blessed with spectacular above-ground trails. This thoroughly revised edition is the authoritative and the only comprehensive guide to all of the hiking trails in both parks.
Legend and Lore of the Guadalupe Mountains by W. C. Jameson
Call Number: 976.4 JAM
ISBN: 9780826342171
Publication Date: 2007-04-16
Since he was a youngster, W. C. Jameson has hiked, explored, and been captivated by the Guadalupe Mountains of west Texas and southeast New Mexico, just southwest of Carlsbad. He has searched the caves in the mountains (even finding a few gold nuggets tucked away years earlier by an unknown prospector) and visited with longtime residents in the local cafes and taverns, and on their ranches. He has spent hours listening to them share the historical events and legends of the Guadalupes.
McKittrick Canyon by Donna Birchell
Call Number: 976.4 BIR
ISBN: 9781626198685
Publication Date: 2015-03-02
The Guadalupe Mountains hold what some call the most beautiful spot in Texas. Once home to the Mescalero Apaches, McKittrick Canyon is an alluring wonderland of lush and abundant flora and fauna.
Northern Chihuahuan Desert Wildflowers by Steve West; Lyons Press Staff
Call Number: 581.7 WES
ISBN: 1560449802
Publication Date: 2000-09-01
Northern Chihuahuan Desert Wildflowers is the ultimate field guide to the flora of the Chihuahuan Desert in southern New Mexico and West Texas. This valuable reference enables all desert enthusiasts to identify quickly and accurately hundreds of Chihuahuan Desert plants. The easy-to-use guide features: More than 270 color photographs; precise descriptions of 261 species; habitat/range information; historical and cultural notes; an educational glossary; a complete index of scientific and common names; descriptions of national parks of the region.

Texas Cacti by Brian Loflin; Shirley Loflin
ISBN: 9781603441087
Publication Date: 2009-10-26
In Texas Cacti, authors Brian and Shirley Loflin present a concise, fully illustrated field guide to more than one hundred of the cacti most often found in Texas and the surrounding region. The book opens with an illustrated introduction to cactus habitat and anatomy. The species are then organized by stem shape, with each account featuring detailed color photographs, specific identifying features (including spines, flowers, fruits, and seeds) and information about common and scientific names, habitat, flowering season, and more.

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To Conserve Unimpaired by Robert B. Keiter
ISBN: 9781610912167
Publication Date: 2013-05-31
When the national park system was first established in 1916, the goal "to conserve unimpaired" seemed straightforward. But Robert Keiter argues that parks have always served a variety of competing purposes, from wildlife protection and scientific discovery to tourism and commercial development. In this trenchant analysis, he explains how parks must be managed more effectively to meet increasing demands in the face of climate, environmental, and demographic changes. Taking a topical approach, Keiter traces the history of the national park idea from its inception to its uncertain future. Thematic chapters explore our changing conceptions of the parks as wilderness sanctuaries, playgrounds, educational facilities, and more. He also examines key controversies that have shaped the parks and our perception of them. Ultimately, Keiter demonstrates that parks cannot be treated as special islands, but must be managed as the critical cores of larger ecosystems. Only when the National Park Service works with surrounding areas can the parks meet critical habitat, large-scale connectivity, clean air and water needs, and also provide sanctuaries where people can experience nature. Today's mandate must remain to conserve unimpaired--but Keiter shows how the national park idea can and must go much farther. Professionals, students, and scholars with an interest in environmental history, national parks, and federal land management, as well as scientists and managers working on adaptation to climate change should find the book useful and inspiring.

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Resources-Library Databaes

Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, rugged mountain mass of uplifted marine fossil reef in the Chihuahuan Desert of western Texas, U.S., just southwest of Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The park, authorized in 1966 and established in 1972, has an area of 135 square miles (350 square km).
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
This article features the Guadalupe Mountains National Park in West Texas. The best time to visit the park is during the cooler months: in October, when there is the fall of change of colors, and in April. The Guadalupes support an unusually diverse community of plant and animal species. About 60 species of mammals make their home in the mountains.

Chihuahuan Desert
The same forces that have shaped the other North American deserts by creating the geologically stretched Basin and Range Province also forged the 280,000-square-mile (450,616 sq km) Chihuahuan Desert. This great desert plain punctuated with a patterned scattering of north-south trending mountains starts in the shadow of the massive Sierra Madre in Mexico, runs north into Texas and New Mexico, and finally into the southeastern corner of Arizona.
Permian Period
The Permian period is the geologic period that lasted from 299 to 252 million years ago. It was the last period of the Paleozoic era (541–252 million years ago). The ancestors of reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals evolved during this period. The Permian ended with the largest mass extinction event ever to occur on Earth. It was followed by the Mesozoic era (252–66 million years ago), the age of dinosaurs.

Alone at the Top of Texas
The article from Texas Monthly offers travel tips for Guadalupe Mountains National Park located east of El Paso, Texas and includes recommendations for dining, accommodations, hundred mile- long Guadalupe Ridge Trail for hikers.
Getting the Picture
Excerpt: Although I photograph National Park System areas all over the country, I always return to the Chihuahuan Desert parks of west Texas and southeastern New Mexico. I spent much of my childhood at Carlsbad Caverns National Park exploring the backcountry and underground areas of that park as well as its sister national park, Guadalupe Mountains. As my photographic career became established, I returned often to photograph these parks along with Big Bend National Park and Fort Davis National Historic Site. Drawn by the endless variety of photographic scenes, I have produced two books on Big Bend and every year produce calendars featuring the parks.
Mountain of Life: A Hike to the 'Top of Texas,' the World's Most Famous Fossil Reef, Leads to a New Sense of the Sublime
Excerpt: IT'S 12:30 ON A NOVEMBER AFTERNOON, AND I'M sitting on top of Guadalupe Peak, the highest mountain in Texas, eating trail mix. The sun is bright, the sky without a cloud, and the view is huge. In front of me--I am facing roughly south--I am looking down on the jagged spine of El Capitan, a mountain that sits at the front of the range like the prow of a ship. Beyond it, I can see at least 70 miles across an arid plain sprinkled with rows of smaller hills. The road to El Paso and the border with Mexico is a gray scratch across the landscape. It's gorgeous.
Seven Rules of Solitude, The
The article focuses on several topics including rules for crowded campsites and travel tips for the Bush Mountain campsite in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas, the Raymer Hollow in Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky and the River Trial in Congaree National Park, South Carolina.
***See where you can find the Guadalupes in this list.
Walking with a Ghost: Edward Abbey Urged Us To Leave Our Cars Behind and Experience the National Parks on Foot
Excerpt: LAST JANUARY IN Big Bend National Park, I floated down the Rio Grande through Santa Elena Canyon and hiked in the Chisos Mountains. Then I went walking in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, enjoying its shifts from desert to riparian streambed and forested upland. I felt that I had Big Bend and Guadalupe largely to myself--unlike Yosemite, where in June I drove past the crowded valley into busy Tuolumne Meadows.

Contemporary American Literature and the Environment, 1970 to Present
Nature and the environment are traditional themes in American literature and have a long history on the North American continent...

Nature Authors: Guadalupe Mountains National Park

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