Best Hikes in Guadalupe Mountains National Park: The Complete Trail Guide

Looking for the best hikes in Guadalupe Mountains National Park? You’ve found one of the most underrated parks in the entire national park system, and one of the least visited. This is part of what makes it so special.

Located in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas, just 40 minutes from Carlsbad Caverns, this park offers dramatic canyon hikes, sweeping desert ridge walks, and the highest point in Texas, all with a fraction of the crowds you’d find at more famous parks.

We spent two days here as part of our Texas and New Mexico national parks road trip… or rather, we tried to! On Day 1, we got knocked down (literally) by winds exceeding 100 MPH that shut down most of the park.

The experience taught us the single most important lesson about Guadalupe Mountains: always check the wind forecast before you go. Here’s everything we know about the best hikes here, including what to do if the wind has other plans for your day.

Planning Your Visit to Guadalupe Mountains National Park

• First, Guadalupe Mountains National Park is located in a remote area of Texas. You will have limited or no cell service, so be prepared to spend some time disconnected.
• Be prepared to pay your entrance fee. If you plan on visiting multiple parks during one trip, an interagency pass is the best bang for your buck. The pass expires after one year, but it usually pays for itself if you visit enough parks in one year. Visit our Gear page to purchase your America the Beautiful Pass online at REI’s website. In some cases, you can purchase an annual pass at the entrance of some parks.
• While enjoying your time in the park, be sure to practice the principles of Leave No Trace.

Extreme winds knocked us down! We planned to hike at Guadalupe Mountains National Park for 2 days, but we got knocked down (literally!) by extreme winds. During our visit, winds in the lower elevation areas of the park were at 40-50 MPH and 100+ MPH in the higher elevation trails!

Unfortunately for us, that meant we had to significantly alter our plans and only got to hike to The Notch and Devil’s Hall.

Wind Backup Plan: Don’t Let a Bad Day Ruin Your Trip

If conditions are too dangerous to hike safely, here are your best options nearby:

• Carlsbad Caverns National Park — 30-40 minutes away and completely underground. Wind irrelevant. Book your cave tickets in advance!
• White Sands National Park — 1.5 hours west in New Mexico. The dunes are actually fun in moderate wind, just keep your eyes closed on the sled ride down. 😄
• Whites City, NM — the small town at the junction of US-62/180 and the Carlsbad Caverns entrance road has a small diner and gift shop worth a stop. Take some selfies with the aliens.
• Carlsbad, NM — 40 minutes north with full restaurant, grocery, and shopping options. A rest day in Carlsbad after a tough wind day is not a bad thing at all.
• Drive the scenic US-62/180 — the highway through Guadalupe Pass between the park and El Paso offers dramatic views of El Capitan from the road, even when hiking is impossible. Pull over at the El Capitan viewpoint and appreciate the mountain from a safe distance.
• Head to Big Bend early — if Big Bend is your next stop anyway, a high wind day at Guadalupe Mountains is a perfectly reasonable reason to start driving south to Terlingua a day early.

Best Time to Visit Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Guadalupe Mountains has one dominant seasonal variable that should drive your planning decision above all others: the wind. We learned this the hard way. Here’s how the seasons break down:

Fall (September–November) — Best overall. Fall is the undisputed best time to visit Guadalupe Mountains, and October is when the park is at its most spectacular. Wind speeds are typically lower than in spring, temperatures are perfect for strenuous hiking, and the fall foliage in McKittrick Canyon is genuinely extraordinary. We cover the foliage in detail below. If you can only visit once, make it October.

🍂 Here’s something that surprises almost every first-time visitor to Guadalupe Mountains: this national park has some of the most spectacular fall foliage in the entire Southwest. McKittrick Canyon, the starting point for The Notch Trail, transforms in October into a canyon of brilliant gold, orange, and red as the bigtooth maples and other deciduous trees turn color against the dramatic limestone cliff walls. The contrast of vivid autumn color against pale canyon rock and desert blue sky is awesome.

Peak color typically runs from mid-October through early November. McKittrick Canyon in October is one of those experiences that makes you want to reorganize your entire travel calendar to be there at the right time. We haven’t made it back in the fall yet, but it’s firmly on our list! 🍁

Spring (March–May) — Beautiful but windy! Spring brings wildflowers and pleasant temperatures, but also the highest wind events of the year. This is when we visited and experienced our 100 MPH wind day. Desert wildflowers bloom beautifully from March through April, and the park is less crowded than in the fall, but always check the forecast carefully before committing to exposed ridge hikes. Have a backup plan. Always.

Summer (June–August) — Hot but manageable at elevation. Summer temperatures at lower elevations can exceed 100°F in the Chihuahuan Desert. The higher elevation trails, including Guadalupe Peak, The Notch, and the Bowl Loop, are significantly cooler and very hikeable in the morning hours. Start before 7 am, carry a gallon of water per person, and be off exposed ridges before the afternoon thunderstorm season kicks in. Crowds are thin in summer, which is always an advantage.

Winter (November–February) — Quiet and cold. Winter is the least visited season at Guadalupe Mountains and offers a peaceful experience. Snow occasionally dusts the higher peaks, which is beautiful. The Bowl Loop ridgeline is spectacular in winter conditions. Cold temperatures make lower-elevation desert hikes very pleasant. The trade-off is cold nights, potential ice on higher trails, and shorter daylight hours for long hikes.

One consistent note, regardless of season: There is no food and no gasoline inside the park. Stock up in Carlsbad before every visit. This applies in January just as much as in July.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park Safety Tips

Weather and General Safety

• Be aware of the weather at all times. It may be windy in the fall, winter, and spring months.
  • Strong winds at 30 MPH can affect your balance and hiking ability. 40 MPH may affect your ability to walk and stand. If winds are forecasted to be 50 MPH or above, do not hike.
• Bring plenty of food and water.
  • There are NO food facilities in the park. PB&J sandwiches are our favorite!
  • Bring at least 1 gallon of water per person, per day, and we recommend a water bladder.
• Bring a map – cell service may not be the greatest.
• There is NO gasoline in the park – the closest gas station is in White’s City near Carlsbad Caverns. The gas station is about 35 miles (30 minutes) from the Pine Springs Visitor Center in the Guadalupe Mountains.

Animal Safety

Guadalupe Mountains National Park has many animals, including mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles, including venomous snakes. Be aware of your surroundings at all times. It is possible to encounter mountain lions, black bears, javelinas, or coyotes along the trails. Be sure to review the steps to take if you see an animal on the trail at the links above!

The Bowl Loop: The Best Full-Day Hike in Guadalupe Mountains

We planned the Bowl Loop as our Day 1 hike, but 100 MPH winds had other ideas. Here’s the route we researched, and why it’s still at the top of our list for a return trip.

The Bowl Loop is a nice 6.8 mile long loop trail that starts near Pine Springs Visitor Center, which is about 1 hour away from Carlsbad, NM.

The hike takes you through a desert, up through a canyon, along a ridgeline, and back down. This is noted to be a strenuous hike, and if the weather is warm, it can seem much longer than it really is.

To make the loop, start at the Pine Springs trailhead and take the Guadalupe Peak Trail until you reach the Tejas Trail. Make a right and cross the river (usually dry). Be on the lookout for the Foothills Trail and take a right until you reach the Frijole Trail. At this point, hike along the Frijole Trail until you reach the Bear Canyon trail. Take this trail. Hike until you reach the Bowl Trail.

Now, take a left and follow this trail to the Hunter Peak trail. This is a great place to stop and rest or eat lunch! Head back down, make a left, and continue on the Bowl trail. Stay left following the ridgeline. This trail ends at the next junction – Tejas and Bush Mountain. Follow the Tejas trail left until you reach the junction with the Foothills trail. Take a right and stay on the Tejas trail and head back to the parking lot.

Note that we did not hike this loop as it was too windy, but our planned route is above. We were super bummed out, but sometimes Mother Nature has other plans. Instead, we headed back to Carlsbad Caverns to explore more of the cave.

The Notch Trail & Devil’s Hall: Two Must-Do Hikes in Guadalupe Mountains

The Notch Trail – moderate/hard – 10 miles out and back, 1000+ ft. gain

Day 2 of the best hikes in Guadalupe Mountains National Park includes two trails. We started the day off hiking the Notch Trail. This is one of the most popular trails in the park! As you head out from Carlsbad, NM, this trail is about 50 minutes away and starts at the McKittrick Canyon Visitor Center.

There are restrooms located at the trailhead, but the visitor center was not open when we arrived. This is a day-use location, so make sure it’s open before you arrive.

This is a great day hike to start off the morning. Technically, you can turn around at any point, but The Notch is worth the view! The first few miles of this trail are a gentle grade surrounded by a riparian ecosystem.

At about 2 miles in, you will reach the Pratt Cabin. Keep hiking along the trail and note that it may get a bit more difficult. Around the 3.5-mile marker, you’ll reach the Grotto, a perfect spot for some lunch!

After this, the grade will steepen, and the trail goes into everyone’s favorite: switchbacks! With spectacular views all around, keep going, and you’ll reach the Notch Overlook at around 5 miles.

Here, there are panoramic views in all directions. Rest up and return the way you came back to the parking lot. Drive over to the Pine Springs area for the next hike. It’s a short 15-minute drive.

Devil’s Hall Trail – moderate – 4 miles out and back (or shorter), 600 ft. gain

Next up, we hiked the Devil’s Hall Trail. This is a rock hop trail through a wash, so it’s not a trail in a traditional sense, but otherwise fun! You will likely have to hike at a slower pace as you climb over large rocks and boulders.

It is dangerous to hike if there is rain or storms nearby, so plan accordingly. Follow the wash until you reach the hikers’ scramble – be extra careful at this location as it is very steep.

More Hikes in Guadalupe Mountains National Park: Guadalupe Peak & Beyond

• Manzanita Smith Spring Loop – easy – 2.5 mile loop.
• Guadalupe Peak Trail or “Top of Texas” – very hard – 8.4 miles out and back – we had this on our plans as a possibility instead of the Bowl Loop, but those 100 MPH winds had another agenda!

Guadalupe Peak Trail

We had the Guadalupe Peak Trail on our list as a possibility during our visit, and those 100 MPH winds had a very different agenda. This one is at the top of our list for when we return, and here’s why:

At 8,749 feet, Guadalupe Peak is the highest point in the entire state of Texas. The summit marker reads “Top of Texas,” and on a clear day, the views extend over 100 miles into New Mexico and Mexico. That’s a view worth coming back for!

The trail starts at Pine Springs Visitor Center and climbs through switchbacks and rocky terrain with increasingly dramatic views of El Capitan, the iconic limestone escarpment that defines the park’s skyline.

The final push to the summit is exposed and rocky, but the summit itself is worth every step. Plan for 5-7 hours round trip and carry significantly more water than you think you need because there is no water on the trail, and the exposed ridgeline amplifies both heat and wind.

We’ll update this section when we make it back to Guadalupe Mountains and finally summit the Top of Texas. It’s on our list.

Where to Stay

Is Guadalupe Mountains National Park Worth Visiting?

Yes, it definitely is! However, as we have said many times, pay close attention to the weather. Due to extreme winds, we were only able to explore a few of the best hikes in Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

We would have loved to spend more time here to hike the Bowl Loop and even had the Guadalupe Peak Trail as an alternative.

We can only assume that those hikes also include spectacular views, but we’ll have to come back another time, maybe in the fall. Due to the somewhat remoteness of this park, it was not crowded at all, and we loved it!

If you only have time for one day here, it’s still worth a visit in our opinion!