Guadalupe Peak and the whole park in general is a wonder of geology; an ancient reef which makes up the view you see from the highway. The peak itself is like a geology lesson, every few minutes of hiking, you can look at the mountain side and see something ancient and different. The hike itself is a pretty good workout. The first part of it is the hardest. Once you are up the first side of the mountain, you reach the tree line. From then until the final half mile or so, you are generally shaded. About 3\4 mike from the summit, there is a primitive camp. The next time I do this, I will stay at this camp the night before and make an early summit.I brought 1 gallon of water, but didn't even finish it. In October it is very pleasant. I imagine in the summer, you would definitely need to at least that much, if not more. The "Top of Texas" is a wonderful and quiet national park, and since it is about an hour from Carlsbad Caverns, definitely worth a stop.
As we drove up to el capitan and guadalupe peak we never thought we would be on top in a few hrs. We are amateur hikers, and this is by far the biggest hike of our lives. In the end the 6.5 hr round trip was worth it and made it to the top. The views were totally worth it. It was a challenging but lifetime accomplishment. Best part is that the change in elevation takes you through different terrains, desert, juniper forest, pine forest and then the peak. Never new west texas was so beautiful.
Stayed in El Paso (far cheaper than Carlsbad) and drove to park early in AM. 107 miles per Google, but the majority is high speed limit highway, so it isn't 2 hrs away.Pay $5 / person at the ranger station (where the Ranger was very instructive about the geology - see Jason S comments below) drive a short distance to the trail head parking lot and embark.The area had a bit of snow the day before, so north-facing areas had maybe a couple of inches - enough to make it visually interesting. Look at the rocks while you hike - VERY cool formations and in some cases fossils. Go to the National Park site and download their fossil guide PDF before hiking so you know what to look for. The rocks made it one of our favorite hikes ever.Michigan - is it just us or does El Capitan look like the "Mitt" of Michigan when getting to the top of Guadalupe? It is a moderate to strenuous hike, and temps/wind will change so dress accordingly.
Close to El Paso and not too far from Carlsbad New Mexico are some beautiful mountains to just pack the car and go see. Early morning is a great time to drive but the evening is absolutely gorgeous with all the stars and minimal lights to mess up the view. If you have a bunch of kids, this may not be the thing for you. If you have kids who prefer to have their noses stuck in their cell phones or games? Not so much. But if you have an open-minded younger bunch, a drive through here could be extremely fun, particularly with a telescope!
While it's sister national park, Carlsbad Caverns gets the huge crowds, the park is absolutely beautiful.
If you enjoy hiking you'll love ascending Guadalupe Peak. We went up and down in one day, however you can get a backcountry permit from the visitor center. The views are amazing. We camped the night before and enjoyed the site. It was super windy (like the ranger warned). Water is a short stroll away. The dish washing sink was not working at our visit. I think they turned it off for winter. We saw deer in the campground and heard coyote at night.
We were not planning on visiting here, but just came across it on our travels. Be sure to watch the slide show at the visitor's center. From the visitor's Center you can see the signature peak of West Texas - El Capitan. Would have loved to have enough time to hike in this park.
This was a really neat trail, though majority of the trail covers typical Chihuahuan Desert habitat, many of the northern slopes are covered by coniferous forests. This mountain range was also an ancient coral reef during the Permian Era, so it great for geology buffs. In total, the trail is 8.5 miles round-trip and it takes you to the highest peak in Texas (8,749 ft). The rangers said the hike should take anywhere from 6-8 hours to complete, but we completed it 4 hours. Since it is located in the desert, we decided to make this a winter hike to avoid high summer temps, but regardless of when you hike make sure to have plenty of water. There is a park fee of $5 per person, but it’s totally worth.
Awesome hike. Great view. Fairly busy trail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Trail was more difficult than expected. Narrow and rugged terrain, but well worth the 8hrs. round trip.