Black Gap Wildlife Management Area

The state bought the original 54,000 acres from the Combs Cattle Company in 1948, after decades of sheep, goats and cattle had left the range badly overgrazed, short of surface water and nearly empty of mule deer. Between 1949 and 1951, 300 mule deer trapped near Sanderson were released here; by 1955 the herd numbered about 900 and the first public hunt opened. The area, now about 103,000 acres, borders Big Bend National Park and shares 25 miles of the Rio Grande with Coahuila.

What the plaque says

Black Gap Wildlife Management Area Black Gap, a natural cleft in the basalt ridge northeast of the Sierra del Carmen, frames the headquarters site of the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area. Established in 1948, the "Gap" contains approximately 100,000 acres representative of the rugged Big Bend Country -- the typical arid, mountainous Southwest. Owned by the people of Texas and operated by the Game and Fish Commission, the area is the scene of research and developmental work dedicated to the conservation and restoration of wildlife species indigenous to the region. Mule deer, javelina, prong-horned antelope and scaled quail are among the principal game species managed. Work is in process to restore the bighorn sheep which, by the 1960's, were all but eliminated from Texas. Scientific land use practices, designed to increases the yield of natural foods for wildlife, have been instituted by the Commission. Water retention and utilization is accomplished by the construction of water impoundments, diversion dams and "push ups" seeded with native vegetation. Research findings, through demonstrations and educational extension programs conducted on this federal-state cooperative project, are available to the surrounding landowners and others who are interested. Game surpluses produced on the Black Gap are harvested periodically by hunters under a controlled public hunt program. (1963)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Big Bend National Park — 22 mi
  More than 1,250 square miles of Chihuahuan Desert, the Chisos Mountains and the canyons of the Rio Grande, opened in 1944 as the first national park in Texas.
• Chisos Basin — 29 mi
  The mountain bowl at the heart of the Chisos, with the park's only lodge, the Window pour-off and trails to Emory Peak, closed for rebuilding since May 2025.

More markers nearby

• Comanche Trail — 15 mi
• Double Mills — 18 mi