McKittrick Canyon in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas and Eddy County, New Mexico, is a strikingly lush riparian corridor within the Chihuahuan Desert, with cooler upper reaches, flowing water, and notable autumn color from oak, ash, and bigtooth maple. Most of it lies in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, while North McKittrick Canyon extends into Lincoln National Forest. Wallace Everette Pratt, who once owned most of the canyon, helped secure its preservation by donating 4,988 acres in 1959, a major step toward creation of the park in 1966 and its opening in 1972. Part of the canyon was later recognized for archaeological importance on the National Register of Historic Places.