It runs from the northwest to the southeast for two miles and includes at least three points higher than 3,950 feet above sea level. The highest point on the ridge, near its southeastern end, is 4,025 feet above sea level and rises more than 400 feet above the surrounding Chihuahuan Desert floor. The relatively less resistant sedimentary rocks around the mafic ridge have eroded away, leaving the harder rock exposed.
Mafic rocks are generally dark-colored.
Black Ridge supports sparse vegetation characteristic of Chihuahuan Desert scrub, including scattered semisucculents such as lechuguilla, sotol, and yucca, and various shrubs such as creosote bush and ocotillo. The Texas State Historical Association, 1997,1998,1999.