Going to Guadalupe Mountains National Park

What to do in Guadalupe Mountains National Park

The signature peak of the Guadalupe Mountains, 8,085-foot El Capitan, is visible from far across West Texas' chapped, interminable desert plains, and your first glimpse of it may floor you. The massive limestone bulwark's forbidding aspect might make you think that Guadalupe Mountains National Park is a harsh, demanding environment to adventure in; that may be partly so, but there are many secret soft spots hidden here. In the recesses of McKittrick Canyon and other ravines are big-tooth maples, chinquapin oaks, and little-leaf walnuts that put on a fall foliage show unrivaled in Texas. High-elevation hiking trails through the Bowl are lined by "sky islands" of ponderosa-pine and Douglas-fir forests. And lush oases like Smith Spring are packed with maidenhair ferns, red monkeyflowers, and jade-green madrone trees.

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