Amistad National Recreation Area

Amistad National Recreation Area
Southern Pacific Railroad Bridge over Amistad Reservoir
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Location	Val Verde County, Texas, USA
Nearest city	Del Rio, Texas
Coordinates	29°26′12″N 101°3′0″W / 29.43667°N 101.05000°W / 29.43667; -101.05000
Area	58,500 acres (237 km²)^[1]
Established	November 11, 1965 (1965-November-11)
Visitors	912,283 (in 2022)^[2]
Governing body	National Park Service
Website	Amistad National Recreation Area

A law enforcement park ranger on National Junior Ranger Day at Amistad National Recreation Area's Diablo East Marina instructing young visitors about boating safety

Amistad National Recreation Area is a national recreation area managed by National Park Service (NPS) that includes the area around the Amistad Reservoir at the confluence of the Rio Grande, the Devils River, and the Pecos River near Del Rio in Val Verde County, Texas.^[3] The reservoir was created by the Amistad Dam (Presa de la Amistad in Spanish), completed in 1969, located on the Rio Grande at the United States-Mexico border across from the city of Ciudad Acuña in the Mexican state of Coahuila. Amistad, Spanish for "friendship," refers broadly to the close relationship and shared history between Ciudad Acuña and Del Rio.^[4]

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Recreational activities

The lake given its location is the backdrop for year-round, water-based recreation opportunities, including boating, fishing, swimming, scuba diving and water-skiing.^[5] Houseboats and other boating equipment can be rented from the park unit's concessionaires.^[6] Amistad National Recreation Area in addition provides opportunities for picnicking, hiking, camping and hunting.^[5] The area is rich in archeology and rock art, and contains a wide variety of plant and animal life.^[5] In the fall, monarch butterflies by the thousands pass through the area during their 3,000 mile (4,800 km) migration from southern Canada to central Mexico.^[7]

There are opportunities for hunting as provided for under state and federal law at Amistad given its status as a recreation area.^[8] Bow-hunting for white-tailed deer, javelina, turkey, rabbit, mouflon sheep, aoudad sheep, blackbuck antelope and feral hog is permitted during certain times of the year in prescribed hunt areas.^[9] Though rifles and handguns are not permitted, shotguns may be used to hunt dove, quail, duck and rabbit in accordance with relevant regulations.^[9]

Elite scuba divers have begun to explore the system of deep underwater caves beneath the surface of the reservoir.^[10] The dive requires exotic gas mixes, pre-placement of gas cylinders, and extensive decompression times at depth.^[10] These caves are considered hazardous and should not be attempted by anyone without extensive training and preparation.^[10]

Administrative history

The National Park Service initially managed the site as the Amistad Recreation Area under a cooperative agreement with the International Boundary and Water Commission effective November 11, 1965.^[11] Amistad was reauthorized as a national recreation area and NPS park unit on November 28, 1990.^[11]

Gallery

Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) near the reservoir
Panther petroglyph located in Panther Cave jointly managed with Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site^[12]
Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) roosting in the fall on their migration south to Mexico^[7]

References

^ "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2011" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-03-30. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
^ "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ "Amistad". National Parks Conservation Association. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
^ "Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary: American Latino Heritage: Amistad National Recreation Area, Val Verde County, Texas". National Park Service. Retrieved 2013-11-27.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Chihuahuan Desert Paradise" (PDF). The High Bridge Tribune. National Park Service. Winter 2005–2006. Retrieved 2013-11-27.
^ "Texas Houseboating and Texas Houseboat Rentals". texasoutside.com. Retrieved 2013-11-27.
^ ^a ^b "Monarch Butterflies Migrate Through Amistad NRA" (PDF). The High Bridge Tribune. National Park Service. Winter 2005–2006. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
^ "Public Law 101-628, 104 Stat. 4492, section 506(d)" (PDF). National Park Service. 1990-11-28. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
^ ^a ^b "Hunting: Amistad National Recreation Area". National Park Service.
^ ^a ^b ^c Nadler-Olenick, Rae (December 2011). "DEEP, DARK AND DANGEROUS: The nation's deepest known underwater cave system lures expert divers". Texas Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 2013-11-27.
^ ^a ^b "The National Parks Index 2009-2011". National Park Service. Retrieved 2013-11-27.
^ "How To See Rock Art: Amistad National Recreation Area". National Park Service. Retrieved 2013-11-27.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amistad National Recreation Area.

Official NPS site: Amistad National Recreation Area
Archival film footage of the Amistad Dam and Reservoir from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image

v t e National recreation areas of the United States
National Park Service	Amistad Bighorn Canyon Boston Harbor Islands Chattahoochee River Chickasaw Curecanti Delaware Water Gap Gateway Gauley River Glen Canyon Golden Gate Lake Chelan Lake Mead Lake Meredith Lake Roosevelt Ross Lake Santa Monica Mountains Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity
U.S. Forest Service	Allegheny Arapaho Ed Jenkins Flaming Gorge Grand Island Hells Canyon Jemez Land Between The Lakes Moosalamoo Mount Baker Mount Hood Mount Rogers Oregon Dunes Pine Ridge Rattlesnake Sawtooth Smith River Spring Mountains Spruce Knob–Seneca Rocks Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity White Rocks Winding Stair Mountain
Bureau of Land Management	White Mountains

Protected areas of Texas

Federal

National Parks	Big Bend Guadalupe Mountains
National monuments and memorials	Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument Castner Range National Monument Chamizal National Memorial Military Working Dog Teams National Monument Waco Mammoth National Monument
National Historical Parks and Historic Sites	Fort Davis NHS Lyndon B. Johnson NHP Palo Alto Battlefield NHP San Antonio Missions NHP
National Historic Trails	El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
National Recreation Areas	Amistad Lake Meredith
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Rio Grande
National Wildlife Refuges	Anahuac Aransas Attwater Prairie Chicken Balcones Canyonlands Big Boggy Brazoria Buffalo Lake Caddo Lake Grulla Hagerman Laguna Atascosa Little Sandy Lower Rio Grande Valley McFaddin Muleshoe Neches River San Bernard Santa Ana Texas Point Trinity River
National Forests	Angelina Davy Crockett Sabine Sam Houston
National Grasslands	Caddo Lyndon B. Johnson McClellan Creek Rita Blanca
Other Protected Areas	Big Thicket National Preserve Padre Island National Seashore

State

State Parks and Natural Areas	Abilene Albert and Bessie Kronkosky State Natural Area Atlanta Balmorhea Barton Warnock Visitor Center Bastrop Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley Big Bend Ranch Big Spring Blanco Bonham Brazos Bend Buescher Caddo Lake Caprock Canyons Cedar Hill Chinati Mountains State Natural Area Choke Canyon Cleburne Colorado Bend Cooper Lake Copper Breaks Daingerfield Davis Hill Davis Mountains Devils River State Natural Area Devil's Sinkhole State Natural Area Dinosaur Valley Eisenhower Enchanted Rock State Natural Area Estero Llano Grande Fairfield Lake Falcon Fort Boggy Fort Parker State Park Fort Richardson State Park Franklin Mountains Galveston Island Garner Goliad Goose Island Government Canyon State Natural Area Guadalupe River Hill Country State Natural Area Honey Creek State Natural Area Huntsville Indian Lodge Inks Lake Kickapoo Cavern Lake Arrowhead Lake Bob Sandlin Lake Brownwood Lake Casa Blanca International Lake Colorado City Lake Corpus Christi Lake Livingston Lake Mineral Wells Lake Somerville Lake Tawakoni Lake Whitney Lockhart Longhorn Cavern Lost Maples State Natural Area Martin Creek Lake Martin Dies Jr. Matagorda Island McKinney Falls Meridian Mission Tejas Monahans Sandhills Mother Neff State Park Mustang Island Old Tunnel Palmetto Palo Duro Canyon Palo Pinto Mountains Pedernales Falls Possum Kingdom Purtis Creek Ray Roberts Lake Resaca de la Palma San Angelo Sea Rim Sheldon Lake South Llano River Stephen F. Austin Tyler Village Creek Walter Umphrey Wyler Aerial Tramway
State Historic Sites	Acton Admiral Nimitz Barrington Living History Farm at Washington-on-the-Brazos Battleship TEXAS Caddo Mounds Casa Navarro Confederate Reunion Grounds Eisenhower Birthplace Fanthorp Inn Fannin Battleground Fort Griffin Fort Lancaster Fort Leaton Fort McKavett Fort Richardson State Park Fulton Mansion Goliad Hueco Tanks Kreische Brewery Landmark Inn Levi Jordan Plantation Lipantitlan Lyndon B. Johnson Magoffin Homestead Mission Espiritu Santo Mission Rosario Monument Hill Penn Farm Point Isabel Lighthouse Sabine Pass Battleground Sam Bell Maxey House Samuel T. Rayburn House San Felipe San Jacinto Battleground Sauer-Beckmann Farm Seminole Canyon Starr Family Home Varner–Hogg Plantation Washington-on-the-Brazos Zaragoza Birthplace
State Forests and Arboretums	E.O. Siecke I.D. Fairchild John Henry Kirby Masterson W. Goodrich Jones Ruth Bowling Nichols Arboretum Olive Scott Petty Arboretum
State Wildlife Trails	Great Texas Coastal Heart of Texas Panhandle Plains Prairies and Pineywoods

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

This page was last edited on 26 July 2023, at 07:01

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