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| | Living Desert State Park, Carlsbad, New Mexico |
 | | With a relatively low elevation of 3,400 feet, and summer temperatures that often exceed 100°F, this part of New Mexico is still classed as desert land, part of the Chihuahuan Desert which also extends across southeast Arizona, west Texas and the Mexican state of Chihuahua. |
 | | The varied plants and animals of this arid region are exhibited in the Living Desert State Park, which occupies several acres of cacti and yucca-strewn land on the edge of the Ocotillo Hills, overlooking the Pecos river valley just northwest of town. |
 | | Plants: The park grounds include many naturally-growing Chihuahuan desert plants, but non-native species such as the giant saguaro have been added, and several nature trails lead past many types of cacti, agaves, yuccas, trees and bushes, including the distinctive spiky ocotillo after which the surrounding hills were named. |
| www.americansouthwest.net /new_mexico/living_desert/state_park.html (314 words) |
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