Waldrop Park

The birds bring the watchers, but the dunes' rarest resident is a lizard. The dunes sagebrush lizard lives nowhere but the Mescalero and Monahans sandhills, and only in bowl-shaped blowouts held in place by shinnery oak, an oak that grows about shin high. New Mexico lists it as endangered, and oil and gas development and sand mining have broken up its ground. The lesser prairie-chicken shares the sand. Farther south, the Mescalero Sands South Dune, three moving dunes eroding from a lakebed some 13,000 years old, is a National Natural Landmark.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Waldrop Park This site is named for Victor H. Waldrop and stewardship for is shared by the New Mexico Department Of Transportation and local bird enthusiasts. Wind blown- sand deposited at the base of Mescalero Ridge forms a 60 mile expanse of open dunes and stabilized hummocks. This park has become popular with bird watchers. The scissortailed flycatcher and other species can be found throughout the dunes.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Llano Estacado — 4.6 mi