Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument
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courtesy of the National Park Service |
Contact Information:
Alibates Flint
Quarries National Monument
PO Box 1460
Fritch, TX 79036
806-857-3151
http://www.nps.gov/alfl/
Size: 1,371 acres
Visitation: 1,811 (2003)
Location: Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument is located on the Texas Panhandle, 30 miles north of Amarillo and just southwest of Fritch, off TX 136. Adjoins Lake Meredith National Recreation Area.
Description: For more than 10,000 years, pre-Columbian Indians dug agatized dolomite from quarries here to make projectile points, knives, scrapers, and other tools. Demand for the high quality, rainbow-hued flint is reflected in the distribution of Alibates Flint through the Great Plains and beyond. Today this area is protected by the National Park Service and is the only National Monument in Texas.
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courtesy of the National Park Service |
Getting there: Highway 136 to the Cas Johnson road (25 miles north of Amarillo, 7 miles south of Fritch). Follow Cas Johnson road 5 miles to the Bates Canyon contact station. A ranger or volunteer will meet you there, then lead you in their vehicles 3 miles further to the monument site.
History: Authorized as Alibates Flint Quarries and Texas Panhandle Pueblo Culture National Monument on August 21, 1965; redesignated November 10, 1978.
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See other Texas National Parks