The Bell Canyon basinal sediments that are the equivalent of the Capitan Reef are exposed around and north of the campground. The reef and forereef rocks are well exposed in Hunter Peak and the edge of the Bowl to the north and in Guadalupe Peak and El Capitan to the south. The Visitor Center and Pine Spring Campground lie in Pine Spring Canyon, a major cross-drainage at the southern end of the Guadalupe Mountains. View from Visitor Center Guadalupe Peak TrailĪccess level for trail: 4+ (Long hikes to exposures or sites, over 1 mi not handicapped accessible due to rocks, brush, etc. Hundreds of these channels existed, one cutting into another, through the deep basin near the shelf edge, though probably only a few were active at any one time. One channel base, lined with dark mud, cuts deeply into underlying sandstone this channel includes fragments of reef and backreef carbonate. Another half-mile uphill is a long roadcut with great exposures of the Cherry Canyon and Brushy Canyon sandstones. One group of beds below the channel shows folds (called convolute bedding) and disruption in bedding that almost certainly formed shortly after deposition, perhaps when the overlying channel was actively eroding and carrying sand into the basin.īack uphill a mile from the roadside rest is a roadcut with shale (mud) over sandstone, with several west-down faults dropping the shale/sand contact down below road level. The roadcut 1/2-mile downhill beautifully exposes the base of a channel sandstone the base cuts down into the older interbedded sand and dark, organic-rich shale. The graben formed in the last 10–20 million years, about the same time that the Delaware Mountains and Guadalupe Mountains were uplifted and tilted to the east, creating all these excellent rock exposures.īrushy Canyon sandstones are well exposed in roadcuts uphill and downhill from the roadside rest. On this side of the basin are many smaller faults down to the west-some are seen in roadcuts just uphill from here. The basin is a graben bounded by faults on the west and east (see Great Place #5A).

To the south and southwest is a great view of the Salt Basin. The west side of the mountains shows evidence of channels that may have fed sand into the deep waters of the Delaware Basin. The sandy Brushy Canyon seems to have been deposited when sea levels were low and the carbonate reef or bank was exposed and eroded. (The same kinds of sandstones produce oil just a few miles east in the Delaware Basin.)Īn interesting question: How did all this sand get through the big limestone reefs into the basin? Presumably it came through narrow bypass channels between reef buildups, but these channels are not visible today. The excellent exposures here in natural outcrop and in roadcuts make this area a leading laboratory for geologists to understand how sandstones are deposited in deep water. These sandstones were deposited in submarine channels that trend southeast into the basin. Look at the light-colored cliffy sandstones: they go for a ways and then die out. The hills there show a smooth upper half-the Cherry Canyon-and a more cliffy lower half-the Brushy Canyon.

The view east from the rest area is less dramatic but is informative. The conspicuous bench-forming sandstone is the top of the much sandier Brushy Canyon Formation, which continues to the rest area and down the hill. These are siltstone and sandstone of the Cherry Canyon Formation, which formed in deep water southeast of the earlier Goat Seep reef. If you look carefully you can see the thick limestone of the slope wedging out into much thinner toe-of-slope and basin carbonates.īelow the big limestone are evenly-bedded, mostly slope-forming rocks. To the right of the big block is a high ridge. It's not immediately apparent here, but the entire block is in the forereef slope facies, and has bedding dipping up to 20 degrees to the southeast (mainly towards us).

The mountain has been a landmark for centuries. The great limestone block of El Capitan (8085-ft at the summit) looms 3000 feet above the roadside rest. The roadside rest south of El Capitan provides the classic view of the south end of the Guadalupe Mountains. View from roadside rest and nearby roadcutsĪccess level: 0 (Car stops viewpoints or roadcuts fully accessible may have curbs)

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