Fra z ie r C a n yon

Sh or t Ca n yon

Blue Mt. Trail

Marfa90

67

9067

9067

17

17

17

17

2810F M

P

int

o Canyon Road

118

118

118

166

166

Fort Davis

Alpine

505

PaisanoPeak

CathedralMountain

Ramse

y Dra

w

Arkansas Mesa

x 1599

PolksPeak

P R E S I D I O C O U N T Y

B R E WS T E R C O U N T Y

Scobee Mountain

WhitetailMountain

BrooksMountain

WhiteMountain

BrownMountain

D a v i s M o u n t a i n s

HighPoint

McDanielMountainSawtooth

MountainBear

Mountain

Blue SeepMountain

BuckMountain

SheepPasture

Mountain

PinePeak

BrownMountain

TinajaHaley’s Peak

BigHill

Lizard Mountain

TwinSisters

Black Peaks

CrenshawMountain

The Haystack

Castle Rock

Antelope Peak

Twin Mountains

Blue Mountain

CasketMountain

Mano PrietoMountain

PuertacitasMountain

Blue PastureHills

CarpenterMountain

ArabellaMountain

Mt. Locke

LimpiaMountain

MineMountain

R Y A N F L A T

D U N C A N D R A W

G R E E N L E E D R A W

F

OU

RM

I LE

D

RA

W

Aragon

B UR

RO

DR

AW

BI G

TR

ES

TL

E D

RA

W

L O N G D R A W

PO

ND

ER D R A W

A N T E L O P E D R A W

SUL ROSSSTATE

UNIVERSITY

Marfa Lights Viewing Center

ChinatiFoundation

6800 ft.

STOP 2

STOP 3

STOP 4

STOP 1

SPUR 78

Da

vi s

Mo u n t a i n s S c e n i c L o o p

K E E S E Y C A N Y O N

MA D E R A C A

NY

ON

10

290Toyahvale

BalmorheaHouston St.

La Calera Chapel

Balmorhea State Park

City of Balmorhea

Balmorhea Lake

RE

EV

ES C

OU

NT

Y

P EC

OS C

OU

NT

Y

J E F F D A V I S C O U N T Y

J E F F D A V I S C O U N T Y

North

0

0

1

1

2

2

3

3

4 5 Miles

4 5 Kilometers

See detailed map on reverse side

.

The t

iny c

hurc

h of

Cale

ra w

as b

uilt

two

mile

s ea

st of

the f

amou

s San

Sol

omon

Sprin

gs in

Ba

lmor

hea S

tate

Par

k. Th

e litt

le str

uctu

re se

rved

th

e com

mun

ity. Th

eir w

ebsit

e say

s it w

ell: “

Caler

a is

a sto

ry o

f how

hum

ans m

igra

te to

area

s with

re

sour

ces f

or li

fe, a

stor

y of m

issio

narie

s who

fo

llow

the p

eopl

e and

tend

to th

eir sp

iritu

al ne

eds,

and

the m

oder

niza

tion

that

com

es w

ith

time a

nd fi

nally

peo

ple m

ovin

g on

when

the

reso

urce

s of l

ife d

isapp

ear.”

Bef

ore t

he sp

rings

we

re co

ntain

ed an

d us

ed fo

r ran

ches

, the

nat

ive

peop

les re

lied

on th

e wat

er, a

nd se

ttled

her

e. Th

is ch

urch

is a

rem

inde

r of t

he h

ealth

y eco

syste

m an

d co

mm

unity

that

exist

ed h

ere b

efor

e dev

elopm

ent.

www.

caler

atex

as.o

rg

Bal

mor

hea

Stat

e P

ark

STO

P 1

City

of B

alm

orhe

a

STO

P 2

STO

P 3

Cale

ra C

hape

l In th

e cor

ner o

f thi

s sm

all st

ate p

ark

is th

e lar

gest

in a

serie

s of a

rtesia

n an

d gr

avity

sp

rings

form

ed b

y sub

surfa

ce ge

olog

ic fa

ults

in th

e Balm

orhe

a are

a: fa

mou

s San

Sol

omon

Sp

rings

. Abo

ut 2

0 m

illio

n ga

llons

of c

lear

crys

talli

ne w

ater

flow

s fro

m th

e spr

ing e

ach

day.

In a

dese

rt en

viro

nmen

t, th

is wa

ter i

s far

m

ore t

han

utili

taria

n: it

susta

ins a

div

ersit

y of

uni

que l

ife fo

rms t

hat w

ould

not

oth

erwi

se

exist

.

From

193

4 to

194

0, th

e enr

ollee

s of C

ompa

ny

1856

, (th

e nam

e of t

he gr

oup

of C

ivili

an

Cons

erva

tion

Corp

s wor

kers

loca

ted

here

,) bu

ilt ro

ads,

build

ings

, brid

ges,

and

irrig

atio

n co

ndui

ts th

roug

hout

this

forty

-six

-acr

e pa

rk. P

rojec

ts in

clude

d bu

ildin

g the

ov

erni

ght a

ccom

mod

atio

ns o

f San

So

lom

on C

ourts

(dist

inct

ive

one-

story

, red

tile-

roof

ed,

The C

ity o

f Balm

orhe

a (p

rono

unce

d Ba

l-mor

e-ay

) is

a am

algam

atio

n of

Balc

om,

Mor

row,

and

Rhea

, the

surn

ames

of

its f

ound

ers.

This

small

town

hos

ts a w

ide

varie

ty o

f bird

life.

Bird

ing

oppo

rtuni

ties a

re es

pecia

lly ri

ch

durin

g the

win

ter a

nd d

urin

g m

igra

tion.

The t

own’s

mat

ure

trees

are a

grea

t plac

e to

spot

un

usua

l neo

tropi

cal b

irds t

hat

pass

thro

ugh

and

take

adva

nce

of th

e hab

itats

crea

ted

by Sa

n So

lom

on Sp

ring’s

wat

er.

A O

NE

-DA

Y E

XC

UR

SIO

N F

RO

M

MA

RFA

A O

NE

-DA

Y E

XC

UR

SIO

N F

RO

M

TO

TH

E N

OR

TH

WA

TE

RS

OF

BA

LM

OR

HE

A

Illustration in progress

Hub

bsCi

éneg

a

Highway 17

Reco

nstr

ucte

dD

eser

t Wet

land

s

Cam

pgro

und

PO

OL

Nort

h

white

-plas

tere

d ad

obe b

rick

cabi

ns

that

had

gara

ges i

n ea

ch o

f the

eigh

teen

un

its) a

nd th

e two

-ac

re sw

imm

ing

pool

. Unf

ortu

nate

ly,

when

the p

rojec

ts we

re co

mpl

eted

in

1935

, the

rem

ainin

g de

sert

wetla

nd, o

r cie

nega

, tha

t orig

inall

y su

rrou

nded

the s

prin

g’s h

eadw

ater

s wer

e de

stroy

ed.

Resto

ratio

n eff

orts

toda

y are

recr

eatin

g a

ciene

ga ec

osys

tem

, so

after

leav

ing t

he p

ool,

sprin

g wat

ers n

ow p

ass t

hrou

gh th

e cat

tails

, ru

shes

and

reed

s in

San

Solo

mon

Cien

ega.

This

dese

rt we

tland

serv

es as

a ho

me f

or ab

unda

nt

aqua

tic li

fe in

cludi

ng tw

o sm

all, e

ndan

gere

d de

sert

fishe

s: th

e Pec

os G

ambu

sia an

d th

e Co

man

che S

prin

gs P

upfis

h. O

ccur

ring a

t no

othe

r plac

e in

the w

orld

, the

sole

rem

ainin

g po

pulat

ion

of th

e pup

fish

relie

s upo

n th

e sp

rings

and

cana

ls of

the B

almor

hea a

rea f

or

surv

ival.

Oth

er an

imals

, inc

ludi

ng re

siden

t and

m

igra

nt b

irds,

depe

nd u

pon

this

wate

r and

lush

ve

geta

tion

for f

ood,

wat

er an

d sh

elter

. Loc

al fa

rmer

s rely

on

San

Solo

mon

wat

er to

irrig

ate

crop

s tha

t wou

ld o

ther

wise

not

surv

ive t

he

blist

erin

g des

ert s

umm

ers.

Don

’t m

iss th

e opp

ortu

nity

to en

joy t

his

wond

erfu

l Wes

t Tex

as tr

easu

re. Th

e cry

stal-

clear

wat

er is

the w

orld

’s lar

gest

sprin

g-fe

d sw

imm

ing p

ool. M

ore t

han

15 m

illio

n ga

llons

of

wat

er fl

ow th

roug

h th

e poo

l eac

h da

y, gu

shin

g fro

m th

e San

Sol

omon

Sprin

gs. Th

e po

ol is

up

to 2

5 fe

et d

eep,

cove

rs 1

.75

acre

s, an

d ho

lds 3

.5 m

illio

n ga

llons

of w

ater

. The

wate

r tem

pera

ture

stay

s at 7

2 to

76

degr

ees

year

-rou

nd. S

wim

, scu

ba d

ive,

or ju

st re

lax

unde

r the

tree

s at t

his h

istor

ic pa

rk in

arid

W

est T

exas

.

tpwd

.texa

s.gov

/stat

e-pa

rks/b

alm

orhe

a

STOP

4B

almorhea Lake

Drive out to Balm

orhea Lake, two miles east of

Balmorhea, for one of the greatest bird watching

areas around. This body of water attracts a rich

variety, documented in the checklist available

online or at the park’s visitor center.

Watch for wading birds like the green heron,

unusual pelegic migrants like the herring gull, a

wide variety of ducks, like this hooded mer-

ganser, and colorful migrants and neotropical

species, like the vermillion flycatcher. Since the

lake functions as a storage facility, water level fluctuates greatly. Th

e southern edge of the lake is excellent for shorebirds in dry years when wa-ter levels are low. Th

is end of the lake is favored by loons, diving ducks and Clark’s and W

estern G

rebes in fall and winter.

Green Heron

Hooded Merganser

Herring Gull

Vermillion Flycatcher

Photos by Mark Lockwood