Seminole Canyon

Seminole Canyon State Park

After leaving the Davis Mountains we drove about 200 miles east to Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site. We had a 50 amp pull through site in this quiet, arid, desert park.

The Visitor Center, located on the rim of Seminole Canyon, houses a very modern and professional museum. 

We signed up for a two-hour ranger led hike into the canyon to view the prehistoric rock art.

The only way to view these protected paintings is with a guide.

There are numerous, water carved, rock shelters throughout the canyon.

Carbon dating placed these pictographs at 4,000 years old and some as old as 9,000 years.

The paint was made from red, yellow, white and black rocks ground and mixed with animal oils.

The end of the trail marked by this very old Mesquite tree. Time to head back up.

Judge Roy Bean

We drove 20 miles west to Langtry, Texas, population 30. Judge Bean was known in the late 1880s as the "Law West of the Pecos."

He conducted his "judging" business on the porch of his saloon called The Jersey Lilly.

The Judge figured when court adjourned, and sometimes even during court, everyone would step inside for drinks.

Judge Bean residence behind the saloon which he called the Opera House.

He lived very modestly.

Behind the Texas Department of Transportation Visitor Center and Museum is a very well-maintained desert botanical garden.

Pecos River Gorge and Bridge

At 273 feet above the river, it is the highest highway bridge in Texas.

Built in 1957, the bridge is 1310 feet long.

Having been to the Pecos River headwaters near Santa Fe, New Mexico, in July, it was interesting to see its confluence at the Rio Grande River. Just beyond this point, the Rio Grande flows into the Amistad Reservoir west of Del Rio.