A day and a half in this Texan National Park
1 day just won’t cut it! This park was incredible and so much more than I was expecting. A day and a half would have been a great amount of time, but we mismanaged our time. Don’t be like us!
Here’s a quick list of what we did and what you should do too!
- Devil’s Hall Hike
- 4.2 miles about 2 hours
- McKittrick Canyon Trail to the Grotto (would recommend going further to “The Notch”)
- 7 miles to the Grotto about 3 hours
- Smith Spring Trail
- 2.5 miles about 1 hour
- Salt Basin Dunes
- 3 miles unknown time
We got in on a Friday afternoon and stayed 1 night at Pine Springs Campground. This campground is a parking lot for some of the park’s trailheads. Which means that the RV camp spots are just a paved lot. There are tent sites here as well and it is very convenient. There were some bigger pull through spots so it does allow for some bigger RV’s, which is nice. We also had decent cell service with T-Mobile. We would have stayed 2 nights except I messed up on reservations and they only had 1 night open. You really have to stay on top of booking these national park campsites! The price of 1 night at Pine Springs Campground is $20. With our discount pass, we paid $10. Keep in mind, no electric and no water hook ups. There are bathrooms here and water spigots to fill up on fresh water.
When we arrived at Guadalupe Mountains National Park, we headed right to the Pine Springs Visitor Center where we grabbed a map, talked to a park ranger, and then got settled at our campsite. We had just enough time to complete our first hike before sunset. Which luckily left right from our campground area. We hiked the Devil’s Hall Hike which is a pretty easy 4 mile hike that we completed in 2 hours. We did hustle since we didn’t want to get stuck out there in the dark. The hike was super cool and super fun! Highly recommend. Make sure you go past the “steps” and all the way back.
We didn’t start Saturday morning until 1000am. I would recommend starting a little bit earlier, this day was packed! We headed out to McKittrick’s Canyon Trail. This is an out and back trail that can be as long as you want. I would definitely recommend making it to the Grotto. This was just over 7 miles round trip and took us 3 ½ hours, we stopped and had a picnic lunch. It is a beautiful trail and easy up to the Grotto. If you have time and motivation, you can hike up to “The Notch.” This will add on a difficult 2 miles (total of 9 miles overall) but you will be rewarded with a magnificent overlook. So we hear because we did not make it up there but would definitely check it out if we are ever back.
Once back to the parking lot we drove over to the Smith Spring Trail, had a rest and a snack. The Smith Spring Trail was incredible. Probably one of my favorite hikes of all time. Possibly just because it was so surprising to find a little oasis out there. The hike is a 3 ½ mile loop trail and is rated (correctly) as easy to moderate. It took us about an hour to complete this hike. There is a little elevation here so you will have some beautiful views and a changing landscape from dry desert to lush trees. The Smith Spring is tucked at the back of this trail and is truly beautiful. This hike is a must do!
Finally, we have the Salt Basin Dunes! I read that this was a great place to watch the sunset. So, we planned to get there at sunset. Couple things to keep in mind:
- Time zones are hard. They are especially hard here when you never know if it’s Mountain time or Central time.
- Sunset means the sun has set. If you want to go somewhere to watch the sunset, go BEFORE sunset.
- The Salt Basin closes 30 minutes after sunset.
- It takes about an hour to get to the Salt Basin Dunes from Pine Springs Visitor Center
Needless to say, we missed the sunset. (Well, we saw it on our drive in our side mirrors and it was beautiful). I honestly don’t know what we were thinking when we planned this day. Between the time zone confusion, “sunset” time, and already hiking 10 miles, why did I think it would be great to add in another 3 miles? It was just about dark by the time we got to the parking lot, and we didn’t really want to even hike the 3 miles if we had time. The access road to the parking lot for the dunes is ROUGH and rugged. HUGE dips. We made it in our 25-foot class A motorhome, but not sure if I could talk my husband into driving it again. Once you get to the parking lot, you will still have a 1 ½ mile hike out to the dunes.
So, is the Guadalupe Mountains National Park doable in a day and a half? I would say yes, but just make sure you start your full day early and be prepared for a long day and 13 miles of hiking!
