Eagle's Nest

Eagle Nest Creek, also called Eagle Nest Canyon, rises a mile east of Farm Road 2083 and runs south five miles to the Rio Grande, entering it half a mile east of Langtry. It cuts deep and winding through massive limestone, and its last mile passes between the high vertical cliffs of One Mile Canyon. Oaks, junipers, grasses and mesquites grow on the dark stony clays above. The landmark itself is an inaccessible but highly visible limestone cavern near the top of a 300-foot vertical bluff, where eagles once nested on the ledge outside.

What the plaque says

Eagle's Nest Humans are believed to have traveled through the remote and dramatic landscape near the confluence of the Pecos River and the Rio Grande for centuries. For years, the cliff across the river from this site was home to a pair of golden eagles, whose nest gave name to the canyon and crossing downstream from it, as well as the community that began on this side of the Rio Grande as a railroad camp. The crossing was used by Indian tribes, ranchers, soldiers and Texas Rangers. The town, later known as Langtry, grew due to efforts of the Torres family, who owned the townsite and provided water for steam locomotives. Even after the town's name changed, the eagle's nest was a well-known landmark. (2003)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center — 1.0 mi
  The state travel center at Langtry, built around the saloon where Roy Bean held court as justice of the peace for twenty years, in a town named for a railroad foreman.
• Pecos River Overlook — 14 mi
  A roadside pullout at the east end of the US-90 bridge, looking down into the gorge that made the Pecos a barrier for travelers and a byword for the edge of the law.
• Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site — 16 mi
  The state park west of Comstock where rangers lead visitors down to Fate Bell Shelter and its Pecos River-style paintings, some three to four thousand years old.
• Shumla Archaeological Research and Education Center — 24 mi
  The Comstock research center that documents the Lower Pecos murals, which it calls the oldest books in North America, and opens its headquarters to visitors four days a week.

More markers nearby

• Robert Thomas Hill — steps away
• The Fitzsimmons-Maher Prizefight — 0.2 mi
• Langtry School — 0.3 mi
• The Torres Family — 0.3 mi