“Other than by foot or horseback, there are only two ways to get to Pinto Canyon,” writes David Keller in his latest book, In the Shadow of the Chinatis: A History of Pinto Canyon in the Big Bend. The first way is on a road that starts north of the small West Texas border town of Presidio. The second way is on the same road, only at its other end in Marfa.
“Locally famous, it is one of the most spectacular drives in the region,” Keller writes. The 15-square-mile canyon, located mostly on private land, is defined by Pinto Creek, which wends through the Chinati Mountains, continuing through volcanic intrusions and Cretaceous limestone dotted with sotol, creosote, and mesquite. To drive to Pinto Canyon is to commune with millennia of geology.
