Guadalupe Mountains National Park (Texas) will be implementing additional closures to park areas due to increased fire danger starting Wednesday, as per a report.
These areas include:
- All trails in the Guadalupe Mountains Wilderness are closed to public use. This includes all the following trails: Bear Canyon, Bowl, Blue Ridge, Bush Mountain, El Capitan, Foothills, Frijole, Juniper, Marcus, McKittrick Canyon, Permian Reef, Smith Spring, and Tejas.
- The McKittrick Canyon Road, including the McKittrick Canyon Visitor Center, are closed.
- The Dog Canyon developed area, including the Indian Meadow Nature Trail and the Dog Canyon Campground, are closed.
- The Frijole Ranch Road, the Frijole Horse Corral Campground, and the Frijole Ranch Museum are closed.
- All previous closures and restrictions of April 14 and 21 remain in effect.
The Salt Basin Dunes trailhead and trail remain open; caution is recommended due to heat risk.
The Pine Springs area, including the Pine Springs Visitor Center, Campground, and Trailhead, will be accessible.
Trails in the Pine Springs area open for day use only are Guadalupe Peak, Devil’s Hall, and Pinery.
The Southwest area of New Mexico and far West Texas faces extreme fire dangers and wildfire activity across the area.
Around 5,800 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to large uncontained fires in the Southwest, Southern, and Rocky Mountain areas.
The Energy Release Component (ERC) for the wildland fire potential fuel load in the park is currently at the 97th percentile.
All of Lincoln National Forest will be closed on Wednesday because of the active wildfires across the state and the extreme fire danger.
According to the National Park Service, Guadalupe Mountains National Park includes 86,416 acres in west Texas, just south of the New Mexico state line and north of U.S. Highway 62/180.
The Guadalupe Mountains rise more than 3,000 feet above the arid Chihuahuan Desert. El Capitan, the park’s most striking feature, is a 1,000-foot-high limestone cliff.
Nearby, Guadalupe Peak, 8,751 feet above sea level, is the highest point in Texas.
This story originally appeared on KFOX.