Amistad National Recreation Area encompasses a protected borderland landscape in southwest Texas around Amistad Reservoir near Del Rio, where the Rio Grande, Devils River, and Pecos River meet at the United States–Mexico boundary. Its name, from the Spanish word for friendship, reflects the shared history of Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña. The reservoir was created by Amistad Dam in 1969, and the area was first operated cooperatively beginning in 1965 before being reauthorized in 1990. Water shapes the area’s identity through recreation, while its shoreline and uplands support hiking, camping, hunting, archaeology, rock art, diverse wildlife, and the seasonal passage of monarch butterflies.