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By Nola McKey Amistad. The Spanish word means “friendship,” but to many visitors at Amistad National Recreation Area, about 10 miles northwest of Del Rio, the name conjures up intrigue and adventure. This remote, 57,292-acre park on the Texas-Mexico border boasts an enormous lake, miles of pristine shoreline, rugged terrain, and numerous, world-class prehistoric pictographs. While the National Park Service site is well known to anglers—the fishing here is legendary—it’s relatively undiscovered by other outdoor types.
“A lot of people don’t realize what we have here,” says Greg Garetz, the park’s chief of education and resource management. “Besides fishing, we’ve got excellent water-based recreation almost year round, including swimming, water-skiing, boating, and scuba diving. It’s also a great place for picnicking, hiking, and camping. When you add in the variety of plants and animals, the significant archeological sites, and the spectacular scenery, it’s really an amazing place.”
The heart of the park—the International Amistad Reservoir (or Lake Amistad, as it’s commonly known)—lies at the confluence of the Rio Grande, Devils, and Pecos rivers. Created in 1969 as a result of the construction of Amistad Dam, a joint project of the United States and Mexico, the lake varies in size with seasonal rainfall.
Noted landscape photographer Laurence Parent discovered the park about 15 years ago. “I’ve never been much of a fisherman, but I love Amistad for its dramatic scenery and great rock art,” he says. “Visually, you’ve got crystal-clear water in the Devils and Pecos river canyons, white canyon walls, and deep blue sky—a photographer’s dream. I’ve come more often in the last few years, since the water has been up. With the higher water levels, you can kayak into more areas, especially the upper canyons.”
While Parent relishes Amistad’s dramatic scenery, he also enjoys exploring and photographing the park’s famous pictographs. “The rock art here is some of the best anywhere,” he says. “It’s amazing that the pictographs have lasted so long, some of them thousands of years. Now is a great time to see them.”
See the full article in the July 2009 issue. Subscribe Order back issues |
