Alibates flint history sits across the county line

About 13,000 years ago, mammoth hunters shaped Alibates flint into tools. Later people made spearpoints, arrowheads, and other implements from the stone. Pieces traveled through trade across the Great Plains and have been found as far away as Canada and Mexico.

The quarries preserve the work behind those objects. The National Park Service records more than 736 hand-dug quarry depressions, with a rich concentration spread across about 60 mesa-top acres.

The visitor center has exhibits, a park film, and a bookstore. Reaching the protected quarries is a different visit. Entry requires a reservation and ranger-led hike, and weather can cancel it. The round trip covers two miles over loose gravel and stairs, gains about 170 feet, and feels like climbing 17 stories. Two miles sounds modest on paper; the climb and footing make the tour details matter. Alibates is in Potter County, not Moore County. For someone starting in Dumas, it is nearby Panhandle context rather than a Moore County landmark: the stone story crosses county lines, and the site itself does too.