Burro Mesa

Burro Mesa is a 4,434-foot summit in Brewster County, Texas, within Big Bend National Park and the Chihuahuan Desert. Part of the Chisos Mountains, it rises distinctly above nearby washes in a hot, arid landscape and supports desert shrubland such as lechuguilla, creosote bush, ocotillo, and cacti. Runoff from the mesa drains by regional creeks toward the Rio Grande. It is also important geologically: younger Quaternary sediments overlie the older Burro Mesa Formation, an Oligocene unit about 29 million years old, while exposed volcanic rocks and the visible Burro Mesa fault reveal the region’s volcanic past. Its name recalls wild burros once found there.

Texas · United States