Castle Gap

The gap is a mile long and yards wide at its narrowest, 421 feet below the summits of Castle Mountain to the north and King Mountain to the south. Its rock began about 135 million years ago as marine limestone that formed a great mesa, later split by erosion. Springs in the pass led Comanches to call it Weick Pah, "Gap-Water," and Indian travelers used it as a gateway between the Pecos crossings, buffalo on the Edwards Plateau and salt at Juan Cordona Lake. In 1968 the Jacobs family gave Upton County a 100-acre park there.

What the plaque says

Castle Gap When day breaks and the morning sun rises above Castle Mountain, a distinct landmark appears on the outer perimeter of the Chihuahuan Desert. The landmark of Castle Gap is a natural gap in the Castle Mountain Range, which protrudes from the King Mountain range in Upton County. In prehistoric times, nomadic Native American Indians traversed the area, as evidenced by flint arrow points found there. As men began to move west and explore the unknown region of west Texas, they saw in the distance a mountain that looked like a castle with a hole in the wall. As a result the hole became known as the gap in Castle Mountains, but is now called Castle Gap. This gap provided easy and time-saving access to the other side of the mountain range. Within the gap on the north wall was a seeping source of fresh water, a much needed life-sustaining source. The first recorded European visitors were Spanish explorers in 1535. Many more pioneers followed, as the gold prospectors travelling to California stopped for rest. From 1858 to 1861, the Butterfield Overland Mail Coaches rumbled through the pass on their 24-day journey from St. Louis to San Francisco, stopping at the small adobe walled castle gap station only long enough for fresh teams, then moving on to ford the Pecos River at Horse Head Crossing, 12 miles to the southwest. By 1866 the Goodnight-Loving cattle trail was well established, through the gap, funneling tens of thousands of longhorn cattle to the northern markets. During the same time, legend holds, a treasure-laden aide of Emperor Maximillian of Mexico, fleeing the country, buried his gold and jewels as he stopped to rest in the gap. All the pioneer trails are now dormant. (1966, 2013)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mendoza Trail Museum — 13 mi
  A 1966 museum in a 1925 oil town, named for the Spanish officer who crossed this country in 1683 at the invitation of the Jumano, with a 1915 bungalow beside it.
• Rankin Museum (Yates Hotel) — 25 mi
  The fireproof hotel Ira Yates built beside the Orient railway depot months after oil came in on his ranch in 1926, kept as it was down to the wicker lobby furniture.

More markers nearby

• Charles Boothe Curry — 6.5 mi
• Juan Cordona Lake — 7.3 mi
• William Carey Crane — 7.3 mi
• One Hundred Million Barrels of Oil From Block 31 Unit — 12 mi