'''Permian Basin''' is in the Big Bend Country of Texas.
Cities
Midland
Monahans, home of the Million Barrel Oil Museum.
Odessa
Other destinations
Fort Lancaster State Historic Park, 40 miles east of Fort Stockton.
Monahans Sandhills State Park, Park Road 41, (''30 miles west of Odessa on I-20, exit mile marker 86''), tel. 432 943 2092. Almost 4000 acres of dunes up to 70 feet high, with hiking, horse and camel riding, picnic spots and sand surfing. Camping available.
Understand
The '''Permian Basin''' actually refers to a subterranean basin, dating to the Permian Period of the late Paleozoic Era around 300 million years ago. Nowadays, it is buried deep beneath this part of the Edwards Plateau, yet it is this primordial basin which lends its name to the region, because it is responsible for the economic windfall which has made the area flourish; every year, the area pumps over 200 million barrels of '''oil''' from the buried basin strata. Indeed, driving through the countryside, it is impossible not to notice the hundreds of pumpjacks dotting the grassy landscape. Once collected, the oil is processed in the refineries of the Midland-Odessa area, which serves as headquarters for the Permian Basin oil and gas industry. The Permian Basin region is rated as the biggest inland petrochemical complex in the States.
Talk
Get in
By air
Midland has regular air service from major Texas cities and a few out-of-state places like Las Vegas
By car
'''I-20''' cuts through the region as it comes westward from Dallas-Fort Worth to El Paso, and is the principal means of arriving by car. Some smaller highways provide other options for those driving in from the north or south.
'''US Route 18''' connects the region with Hobbs, New Mexico to the north, and joins US-385 at Fort Stockton to the south.
'''US 385''' comes up from Big Bend National Park in the south and passes through many smaller towns of the western Llano Estacado and High Plains on its long journey to Deadwood, South Dakota.
Get around
See
'''Meteor Crater''' at Odessa - This National Natural Landmark is the third biggest crater in the States.
'''Jack-rabbits''' flashing through the meadows, or '''Jack Ben Rabbit''', the largest jackrabbit in the world, a 10-foot-tall statue in downtown Odessa that is the unofficial mascot of the region.
Do
'''Sand-surfing''' at the Monahans Sandhills.
Eat
Drink
Stay safe