Exploring Madera Canyon: A Natural Gem in Texas
Revised by: Laurie E. Jasinski
Published: 1952
Updated: August 20, 2025
Madera Canyon heads on the northwestern flank of Mount Livermore sixteen miles north of Fort Davis in west central Jeff Davis County (at 30°38' N, 104°10' W) and runs northeast for forty miles before meeting Big Aguja Canyon to form Toyah Creek two miles southwest of Toyahvale and Balmorhea State Park in southwestern Reeves County (at 30°56' N, 103°49' W). Through Madera Canyon flows an intermittent stream. The canyon traverses rugged terrain surfaced by shallow, stony soils that support Mexican buckeye, walnut, persimmon, desert willow, scrub brush, and sparse grasses. Madera is Spanish for "wood." Madera Canyon Trail is a 2.4-mile hiking path that loops through a 4,000-acre parcel of the Davis Mountains Preserve operated by the Nature Conservancy.
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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Revised by Laurie E. Jasinski, “Madera Canyon,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/madera-canyon.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
RKM01
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- 1952
- August 20, 2025
