Sierra Blanca is an unincorporated area in Hudspeth County, Texas, United States.

[5] The town is part of the Trans-Pecos region of far West Texas, is located northeast of the Mexican border and is within the Mountain Time Zone.

[3] The town accommodates travelers between Van Horn and El Paso along Interstate 10, which is the main route that connects Texas from west to southeast.

[1] Soil in the surrounding area is mostly nonarable due to lack of water, so cannot sustain large-scale farming.

Due to the high altitude of the town, it has a cooler climate than other areas of the Chihuahuan Desert.

During the winter, the jet stream periodically dips far south and brings extremely low temperatures.

During the hurricane season, tropical storms can sometimes bring large amounts of precipitation to the arid mountainous region and can cause flash flooding.

Amtrak’s Sunset Limited passes through the town on Union Pacific tracks, but makes no stop.

Starting in 1992, a few miles from Sierra Blanca was the location of a sludge dump that received 250 tons of treated sewage each day by train from New York City.

This proposal was eventually declined, citing concerns about the site being in the most seismically active region of Texas.

[33] In September 2012, singer Fiona Apple was arrested at a checkpoint for possession of small amounts of marijuana and hashish, and spent the night in jail there.

[35] Previously, rapper Snoop Dogg, musician Willie Nelson, and actor Armie Hammer had all been arrested separately for drug possession in Sierra Blanca.

[34] The United States Border Patrol checkpoint at Sierra Blanca sends the county thousands of drug cases a year and inspects 15,000 to 20,000 vehicles every day.

[34] The county is unable to prosecute the vast majority of these cases, as the federal government no longer funds such activities.