Monahans Sand Hills State Park

About Monahans Sand Hills State Park

Monahans Sandhills State Park is a 2,500-acre area in San Antonio, Texas. Much of the land was leased from 1956 to 2056 and opened in 1957, and the Williams family, from Monahan, Texas, also leased 900 acres to the state for the park.

More than 400 years ago, Spanish researchers were among the first Europeans to discover the vast sand hills. Humans were already present in the 12,000-year-old area, the National Park Service said.

Later, various Indian tribes used the area as a meeting point where they found acorns, mesquite and beans that they could grind into a paste. The area remained a favorable environment for the Native Americans until the 1880s, when it was selected by the Texas and Pacific Railroad. Oil production began in the mid-19th century in the present Permian Basin. Today, Monahans is one of the largest oil and gas fields in Texas and the second largest in North America.

The park is part of a dune field that stretches about 200 miles west - north from southern Monahan to New Mexico. Most dunes have been stabilized by vegetation, but there are areas where many are still active. The park is home to a variety of bird species, reptiles, amphibians and mammals, as well as freshwater in the form of streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands and other bodies of water. Active valleys grow and change shape with prevailing winds during the season, allowing visitors to experience a dynamic landscape.

To reach the park, head north on Interstate 20, then south on Interstate 40 to Monahan, and then north on I-20 to New Mexico. One of the best ways to see the dune fields, and especially the large acorn trees, is from the parking lot at the southern end of Interstate 10, west of Monahans Sand Hills State Park. Quercus acorns, the plant that stabilizes the dunes, are not mature plants that carry an abundance of large acorns and usually grow to a height of about 1.5 meters above sea level.