Blue Mountain is Winkler County's high edge

Blue Mountain rises north of a roadside marker on SH 302, about 15 miles east of Kermit. At 3,400 feet, it is Winkler County's highest point. Geologically, it is not a separate mountain but the southern escarpment of the Llano Estacado.

That high edge served as a lookout and a landmark on the West Texas plains, with fuel, shelter, and water nearby. A 1938 excavation of rock shelters along the ridge found mortar holes and pictographs of hands, serpents, horses, and geometric forms.

The marker also records that a spring near the shelters had gone dry as the underground water table fell. Together, the view, shelter, and signs of water help explain why people returned to this high ground.