Guadelupe Mountains National Park

Guadelupe Mountains National Park in Salt Flat, TX, is a park we would have loved to have more time at because it was so beautiful. We visited for the day in December, and drove in from the Carlsbad KOA campground we were staying at in New Mexico. As pretty as the landscape was, we heard that Fall is the optimal time to come because the fall foliage is stunning.

We visited the ranger station first, getting the kids ranger booklets to work on. We were with friends, and all four kids worked hard to get their booklets finished! It was taking a while, so we decided to take a break and do a hike. We chose Devil’s Hall Trail, which is a 4.2 mile hike (moderate level) with amazing views and diverse landscape.

We were on a dirt trail part of the way and part of the way we were rock climbing! All the terrain changes kept it interesting and held even the 4 year old’s attention! Devil’s Hall is one of my top 5 hikes ever! I really enjoyed how unique and fun it was! The kids stumbled across some pretty big bones, including a spine, which I thought was absolutely disgusting but the kids thought was totally cool!

We saw a deer that watched us for a while and was very intrigued with our group. It took quite a few hours to complete this hike. It seemed longer that 4.2 miles (even though it wasn’t necessarily a HARD hike). Unfortunately for the kids, we didn’t make it back in time to turn in the junior ranger books! They were closed by the time we finished. Since we were just there for the day and it was kind of a long drive from our RV park, we had to mail in the Junior Ranger booklets and the kids will eventually get their badges in the mail.

I highly recommend this park and especially this amazing hike! I would absolutely love to return one day in autumn and experience the leaves changing and also explore more of the park! Here are some photos from our day at Guadelupe Mountains.