Guadalupe Mountains National Park: Hiking on an Ancient Sea Reef in the Sky
Guadalupe Mountains National Park is one of those parks that doesn’t get a lot of limelight. In fact, a few years ago, before we started our quest to visit all the US national parks, I hadn’t even heard of Guadalupe Mountains. It’s neighbor in New Mexico—Carlsbad Caverns—gets a lot more attention and when you think of a national park in Texas, it’s usually Big Bend that comes to mind.
It may be due to its modest nature, but Guadalupe Mountains National Park was full of surprisingly jaw dropping moments. Hikes with natural formations that you hardly believe are real. Rocky canyons, mountain vistas, lush springs, and babbling streams—the natural features in Guadalupe Mountains sound more like something you’d expect to find in the northern Rocky Mountains, not the middle of the desert. This park really is an oasis containing fascinating geology and the highest point in Texas—Guadalupe Peak.
What’s This Whole Sea Reef Thing About?
It seems I’m becoming a bit of a rock nerd. Not like the devil horn rock-n-roll type (Tom’s got that covered), I’m talking about the riveting world of geology (like I said, nerd alert). I’m as novice as they get, but I find learning about the layers of rock that make up this planet extremely captivating. Well, Guadalupe Mountains National Park has some pretty fancy-pants rocks so let’s have a little geology geek-out, shall we?
The multi-layers of rock that form Guadalupe Mountains are actually the remains of an ancient sea reef. Around 265 million years ago, this area, like much of North America, was covered by a tropical sea. As sponges, algae, and other lime secreting (this will be important later, ahem Carlsbad Caverns) marine organisms died, their bodies fell to the floor of the sea. Over millions of years these bodies built up to form a 400-mile long reef.
Fast-forward a few hundred thousand years and the sea evaporated, burying the reef under many layers of sediments and minerals. Around 20 million years ago tectonic plates shifted causing portions of the ancient sea reef to be uplifted—enter Guadalupe Mountains. Over time, weathering has worn away the softer sedimentary layers, exposing the limestone reef. Today only three areas of the reef are exposed. The rest is still buried underground. Spoiler: Carlsbad Caverns is also part of this reef. See isn’t that amazing?
Camping in Guadalupe Mountains National Park
We found a few things unusual about the camping situation in Guadalupe Mountains compared to the other parks we frequent, so wanted to pass along the info so you can be prepared for a visit here.
- If you’re planning to stay at the campgrounds in the park, bring cash. They don’t accept checks or cards.
- If you’re staying at the Pine Springs campground, there are separate spots for tents vs RVs, campers, and vans (even though there aren’t any hookups).
- The tent spots really do mean tents only, and most of them are walk-in sites. They looked nice, but it was very competitive to find vacancy. If you have a van, you’re required to park in the RV/camper area, which is literally a spot of pavement in the parking lot. Some of the spots have picnic tables, but not all of them. As you may have gleaned, we weren’t overly impressed with this campground so we opted for BLM boondocking outside the park instead.
- There’s a second campground in the Dog Canyon section of the park which is accessed from the north.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park: A Hikers Dream
At Guadalupe Mountains you won’t find a huge visitor center with loads of exhibits (like Carlsbad Caverns) or an extensive scenic drive through the park (like Shenandoah). Instead this unassuming park is filled with miles, upon miles, upon miles of trails leading through diverse terrain. It’s truly a hiker’s heaven and we saw many folks setting out on long-trekking adventures. With over 85 miles of interwoven trails, there’s plenty to keep you busy here.
If you’re not a big hiker, there are a number of shorter strolls—see the Pinery Nature Trail and Manzanita Spring Trail below. The park also has six different access roads (that I counted) into the park. We only explored three of them, but each featured a unique landscape so you could craft your own auto tour route to take in the varied scenery of the park.
Pinery Nature Trail
This .75-mile flat trail leads from the visitor center to the ruins of a stagecoach station from 1858 that was along the Butterfield Overland Mail Route. On your way, read the small signs identifying the local desert plant life. Then you can quiz yourself on later hikes—its’ fun, trust me. Lechuguilla, ocotillo, sotol, cholla—all things I’d never heard of before our time here.
Devil’s Hall
This was hands-down my favorite hike in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. It’s a 4.2-mile trek that takes you up a mountainside, down into a wash made of white rocks, over boulders, and to the grandest natural entrance I’ve ever seen—Hiker’s Staircase. Considering that this is the entrance to Devil’s Hall, it seems like someone got lazy in the naming department. Regardless, I felt like Indiana Jones climbing the stairs (okay not really since I crawled, not so much climbed, but still).
At the top of the staircase, there’s a narrow canyon that you continue down until you reach Devil’s Hall which is another amazing formation. Remember to look up throughout this hike. We saw a lot of other interesting arches and alcoves in the rock walls along the way.
Smith and Manzanita Springs Trail near Frijole Ranch History Museum
Disappointingly, the museum here was closed when we visited because of structural damage and concern over the wind. We were able to do this hike though. If you want a really short hike you can take the trail to the right, and only go as far as Manzanita Spring (.2-miles in). For a longer hike (2.3-miles round trip), continue to Smith Spring. Here you’ll find a vibrant green forested area at the spring’s source.
McKittrick Canyon Trail
The ranger described this hike to us as an easy trail that crosses the stream a few times, and then follows the canyon the rest of the way. The distance of this hike is flexible. You can stop at Pratt Cabin for a 4.8-mile roundtrip trek or continue to the Grotto and Hunter Line Shack (seriously it’s called a shack on the map) for a 6.8-mile journey.
We went as far as the Hunter Line Shack. The ranger was right about the trail being easy, so the miles go fast and the towering trees along the canyon provide much welcome shade. The Pratt Cabin and Grotto are both good places to sit and take in the unique surroundings. Maple, walnut, and oak trees grow alongside prickly pear cacti and agave. Much like the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend, McKittrick Canyon is a surprising ecosystem where the forest and desert coexist.
If I haven’t convinced you to take up geology as a hobby yet, I hope you’re at least intrigued by Guadalupe Mountains National Park. While it may not be as well-known as some of the other parks in the area, it’s well worth a visit and as many hikes as your feet will take you on.
Have you ever visited an oasis type area in the desert? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
