India, Aug. 30 -- As you drive out of Marfa on Ranch Road 2810, miles of open land sprawl out on all sides, with green and golden swaying grass speckled here and there with cattle. The rolling hills seem endless - but drive far enough, and the landscape shifts.

Suddenly, around 32 miles (51.499 kilometres) southwest of Marfa, the pavement ends, the ground drops away precipitously, and the gentle plains give way to craggy rocks and steep, dramatic mountains. If you keep driving, you'll descend into Pinto Canyon along the Pinto Canyon Road, one of the most stunning drives in the state of Texas.

"You're winding around those hills up above the canyon, which was a part of an ancient caldera ... and then you drop down into it and the land ope...