Guadalupe Mountains National Park rarely comes up when I discuss national parks with fellow travelers or outdoor enthusiasts.

This desert landscape with mountains, canyons, and the world's most extensive Permian fossil reef was once a thriving sea.

This reef was slowly built from the calcified remains of sea creatures, and it is massive. (pensive music) During the Permian period, this reef extended hundreds of miles from Texas into what's ...

The Permian Reef was once home to a thriving sea of marine life, including sponges, algae, clams, corals, trilobites and sea urchins. The 8.4-mile Permian Reef Trail in McKittrick Canyon offers ...

But Midland is home to the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum. And there I could see a diorama of the reef as it looked when it was alive. The first part of the drive took me southeast along the ...