Franklin Mountains at the Hour the Desert Forgives

Franklin Mountains at the Hour the Desert Forgives

Franklin Mountains State Park is the largest urban park in the contiguous United States — 37 square miles of Chihuahuan Desert rising directly from El Paso's north side like the city's own spine. The Tom Mays entrance off Trans-Mountain Road drops you at a trailhead before the sun has finished deciding how punishing it wants to be.

The Ron Coleman Trail is 5.4 miles round trip and climbs 1,600 feet through ocotillo, creosote, and the kind of rock formations that make geologists weep with joy. The first mile is deceptive — gentle switchbacks through a wash where jackrabbits freeze and watch you with the intensity of critics at a gallery opening. Then the trail tilts upward and the city falls away below you, El Paso and Juarez spreading across the valley like a map someone unfolded on a kitchen table.

At the summit the wind hits you and the view opens to three states and two countries — the Rio Grande threading its way south, the mesas of New Mexico to the north, and the Sierra de Juarez across the border catching the same light from a different nation. The desert smells of dust and sage and the particular cleanness that comes from air that has never been humid.

Best season: November through March, when the temperatures drop below murderous and the light goes golden without the shimmer of summer heat. Start by seven or the rocks become skillets. Bring twice the water you think you need — the desert will use it. Wear real boots, carry sunscreen like religion, and tell someone where you're going.