{{Short description|Mountain range in Texas, United States}} {{Infobox mountain | name = Beach Mountains | image = Beach Mountains Culberson County Texas.jpg | image_caption = View of the Beach Mountains from the south | elevation_ft = 5827 | elevation_ref = <ref name=handbook>{{Handbook of Texas|id=rjb22|name=Beach Mountains}}</ref> | prominence_ft = 1725 | prominence_ref = | range = | location = Culberson County, Texas, U.S. | map = Texas | map_alt = | map_caption = Location in Texas | map_relief = yes | map_size = | label = Beach Mountains | label_position = right | coordinates = {{coord|31|08|09|N|104|51|31|W|type:mountain_region:US-TX_scale:100000_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | range_coordinates = | coordinates_ref = <ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|1372422|Beach Mountains}}</ref> | first_ascent = | easiest_route = }} The '''Beach Mountains''' are located on privately owned land roughly {{convert|3|mi|0}} north of Van Horn in southwestern Culberson County, Texas. The maximum elevation reached is {{convert|5827|ft|0}} above sea level.<ref name=gnis/> The Beach Mountains occupy a roughly circular area with a diameter of approximately {{convert|8|km|mi}}, rising {{convert|550|m|ft}} above the surrounding desert. Narrow passes separate the Beach Mountains from the Baylor Mountains to the north and the much larger Sierra Diablo range to the northwest.<ref>Google Earth</ref>
==Geology== The Beach mountain range is one of multiple isolated mountain ranges that populate Trans-Pecos Texas. Other nearby ranges include the Sierra Diablo, Baylor, Apache, Carrizo, Wylie, Eagle, and Van Horn mountains. Although these isolated ranges may share some common characteristics, their underlying geology can vary significantly.
The Beach Mountains are erosional remnants of Ordovician and Cambrian sedimentary rocks laid down from 541 to 444 million years ago.<ref name=handbook/> Along their western margins, a highly intermittent stream called Hackberry Creek has exposed even older Precambrian deposits.<ref>{{GNIS|1373962|Hackberry Creek}}</ref>
==Flora== The vegetation of the Beach Mountains is typical of the Chihuahuan Desert with plants such as Yucca, creosote, mesquite, and various cactus species. The shallow soils along the steep and rocky slopes also support live oak, pinyon pine, juniper, and various grasses.<ref name=handbook/>
==Fauna== The Beach Mountains are home to rare herds of desert bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis nelsoni''), which tend to be restricted to the mountainous parts of Trans-Pecos Texas and southeastern New Mexico.<ref>Bailey, V. 1912. A new subspecies of mountain sheep from western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 25:109-110.</ref><ref>{{URL|tpwd.texas.gov/landwater/land/habitats/trans_pecos/big_game/desertbighornsheep/|Desert Bighorn Sheep, Texas Parks and Wildlife}}</ref> The many rugged escarpments and the highly dissected and eroded conditions within the Beach Mountains produce a rough and precipitous terrain that is highly favored by mountain sheep.<ref>{{URL|https://www.jstor.org/stable/1374591|Davis, W.B. and Taylor, W.P. 1939. The Bighorn Sheep of Texas. ''Journal of Mammalogy'' 20(4):440-455.}}</ref> Once extirpated, 38 desert bighorns were reintroduced into the Beach Mountains by the government of Texas in 1991 and 1992. In 2009, the Beach Mountains sheep formed part of a population numbering almost 1,200 in several mountain ranges in western Texas.<ref>Bailey, V. 1905. Biological survey of Texas. United States Department of Agriculture, North American Fauna no. 25. 222 pp; "Desert Bighorn Sheep", https://tpwd.texas.gov/landwater/land/habitats/trans_pecos/big_game/desertbighornsheep/, accessed 21 May 2018.</ref>
==Proper name== The mountains are named for J. H. Beach, who settled in the area in the 1880s.<ref name=VH>{{Handbook of Texas|id=hgv01|name=Van Horn, TX}}</ref> Another early settler of Van Horn, Robert K. (Bob) Wylie, gave his name to another nearby mountain range: the Wylie Mountains, located to the southeast of the Beach Mountains.<ref name=VH/>
==See also== *Guadalupe Mountains *Davis Mountains *Trans-Pecos *West Texas *Blue Origin
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{url|https://www.ars.usda.gov/plains-area/lubbock-tx/cropping-systems-research-laboratory/wind-erosion-and-water-conservation-research/docs/llano/|Public domain images of the Llano Estacado and West Texas}}
{{Mountains of Texas}} {{Culberson County, Texas}}
Category:Geology of Texas Category:Landforms of Culberson County, Texas Category:Mountain ranges of Texas