UTEP Chihuahuan Desert Botanical Gardens

One of the cultural delights of El Paso is the Bhutanese architecture of the University of Texas at El Paso. Founded as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, its architecture stems from an enchantment with a 1914 National Geographic article on the Kingdom of Bhutan. Most of the campus buildings follow this graceful style, and the school eventually established a relationship with Bhutan in 1967. One of the symbols of that friendship is a prayer wheel that is a central feature of the Chihuahuan Desert Botanical Gardens. These native plantings create an oasis around the Centennial Museum, which focuses on the natural and cultural history of the Chihuahuan Desert region.