Franklin Mountains State Park El Paso
— a desert range a city built itself around.
Not only on a wall.
Franklin Mountains State Park El Paso, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
Each tile ships in a kraft box, tied with cream ribbon, with a handwritten note from the studio if you'd like to add one.
Three or five different vistas, hung together — a chapter of places you've been, or want to go.
“More than 27,000 acres of Chihuahuan Desert rising inside El Paso city limits, with North Franklin Peak topping out above 7,000 feet. The range runs north to south across the city and on into New Mexico, the rock pink-grey at noon and rust at last light. Ocotillo, sotol, and barrel cactus hold the slopes. Trails climb out of West El Paso and Northeast El Paso to ridges that look back across the Rio Grande to Juárez. It is the largest urban state park in the contiguous United States, and it still feels like open country.
The place, in three passes.
Franklin Mountains State Park covers more than 27,000 acres of the Franklin Mountains within El Paso city limits, making it the largest urban state park in the contiguous United States. The range runs roughly 23 miles north to south and crosses into New Mexico above the city. The highest point, North Franklin Peak, reaches 7,192 feet, the tallest summit in El Paso County. The park is administered by Texas Parks and Wildlife, with main entrances from Loop 375 (Transmountain Road) in the central pass and from neighborhoods on both the east and west flanks. The terrain is Chihuahuan Desert with significant relief.
The range carries the dry, thin air of high Chihuahuan Desert, between about 4,000 feet at the base and 7,192 feet on North Franklin Peak. Vegetation grades from creosote and ocotillo on the lower slopes through sotol, lechuguilla, and barrel cactus higher up, with juniper and oak in the upper draws. Summer afternoons run hot and bring lightning across the ridges in monsoon season from July through September. Winter mornings dip below freezing on the high peaks and occasionally hold snow. The air clears after storms, and the view east across the Tularosa Basin can reach more than a hundred miles.
The Tom Mays Unit on the west side, off Loop 375 (Transmountain Road), is the most-used entrance, with day-use picnic ramadas and access to Aztec Caves, Mundy's Gap, and the long climb to North Franklin Peak. McKelligon Canyon on the east side serves as a separate amphitheater and trailhead. The Wyler Aerial Tramway, which once carried passengers to Ranger Peak above the city, has been closed since 2018. Hiking, mountain biking, and bouldering are the primary uses; off-trail travel is discouraged for both cactus and bighorn-sheep protection. Fall through spring are the most comfortable months.
