Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Salt Flat, Texas, USA

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.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park Pine Springs Visitor Center: 400 Pine Canyon Dr, Salt Flat, Texas, USA

The view of the park from Pine Springs Visitor Center.

About 250 million years ago, this place was under the Delaware Basin sea, where ancient reefs were exited.

The fossilized reef can be seen today.

Even the mighty El Capitan was under the sea.

It shows the popular trails.  I only went to McKittrick Canyon trail.

Left the visitor center to go to see the El Capitan.  There is another rock formation in Yosemite National Park called El Capitan.

The El Capitan.  It was submerged under the ocean 250 million years ago, and the fossiled ancient reefs can be seen on the wall of the cliff.

Drove to where the McKittrick Canyon Trail starts.  The trail is long, but I plan to go only up to where the Pratt Cabin is located, which is about 4.5 miles round trip.

Going across a dried stream bed.  Spanning view of the dried bed from left to right.

The second stream bed.

The third stream bed and this one has shallow water.

The fourth steam bed. (Or it could be just one stream bed, and I keep zigzag crossing the same stream.)

Arrived where the Pratt Cabins are.

Returning.  Back to where the fourth stream was.

Back to where the first stream was.

I did not see any ancient fossils on this trail.  The “Permian Reef Trail” is next to this trail, where one can see the reef fossils.