El Capitan at sunrise in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

© Adam Mowery/Tandem Stills + Motio

Let's park here. El Capitan in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas, USA

Today, let us take you to Guadalupe Mountains National Park in western Texas. The park, officially established in 1972, covers around 350 square kilometres today. Here, the Guadalupe Mountains rise over the salt dunes of the Chihuahuan Desert. At 2,667 metres, the highest point of the mountain range—and of Texas—is the Guadalupe Peak. Another outstanding landmark, often used as a waymark for travellers, is the 2,464-metre-high El Capitan—not to be confused with the more famous, but shorter, El Capitan in California—limestone cliff, seen in the image. If not in the near future; there are plenty of days in the year to visit America's abundant natural splendour.