[3] The park is open year-round for recreational activities such as hiking, mountain biking, picnicking, and scenic driving.

Pictograms and mortar pits confirm a human presence in the mountains dating back more than 12,000 years.

A local organization known as the Wilderness Park Coalition was able to convince the Texas Legislature to protect the mountains in 1979.

[3] The 1979 establishment allowed for the incorporation of the Castner Range on the east side of the park, though this did not happen due to the presence of unexploded ordnance.

[10] The Precambrian rocks atop North Franklin Mountain are "the highest geological structure in the state of Texas.

Geologists refer to them as tilted-block fault mountains and in them can be found billion-year-old Precambrian rocks, the oldest in Texas.

[6] Mammals in the park include desert bighorn sheep, mule deer, mountain lions, ring-tailed cat and a variety of rodents.

The gondolas travel along two 2600 foot 1 3/8" diameter steel cables to Ranger Peak, 5,632 feet (1,717 m) above sea level.

Unlike the desert climate of downtown El Paso, the state park is located at a higher altitude in the mountains, which can intercept a large amount of moisture from the air, thereby forming precipitation.