Sacred Desert Sanctuary
For thousands of years, people have trekked to these rock hills in far west Texas. In earlier times, they came for the rainwater pooled in natural rock basins, or huecos (“whey-coes”). Visitors today marvel at the imagery left by those ancient people.
Hueco Tanks is an area of low mountains and historic site in El Paso County, Texas, in the United States.
It is located in a high-altitude desert basin between the Franklin Mountains to the west and the Hueco Mountains to the east.
Hueco is a Spanish word meaning hollows and refers to the many water-holding depressions in the boulders and rock faces throughout the region.
Due to the unique concentration of historic artifacts, plants and wildlife, the site is under protection of Texas law; it is a crime to remove, alter, or destroy them.
The historic site is located approximately 32 miles northeast of central El Paso, Texas, accessible via El Paso's Montana Avenue, by turning at RM 2775.
The park consists of three syenite mountains; it is 860 acres in area and is popular for recreation such as birdwatching and bouldering. It is culturally and spiritually significant to many Native Americans. This significance is partially manifested in the pictographs that can be found throughout the region, many of which are thousands of years old.
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