Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Guadalupe Mountians National Park!

Still in Texas. Lots of Texas. But, we are in a portion of Texas that has more than just... uh... nothing. So that is nice! Our visit here was short and sweet. We began, as we often do, by swinging by the visitor's center for a bathroom break and some trail info! After consultation with the NP staff on duty we decided to head over to Manzanita Spring to see what we could see. Turns out we could see lots of cool short palm tree like things that have a name (we weren't able to find any signs indicating what the name was... we also didn't look for any signs.), and also water coming up right out of the ground! (That was the spring.) The water was cold. On our way to the spring we passed some historic buildings that had a museum inside which was sadly closed (we think. This visit was truly short and sweet.) With all that in depth exploration under our belt we headed back to the car as the sun was setting over the hills.

Personnel:
The personnel were definitely present and accounted for. However, they weren't too much beyond that. The lady we talked to did confirm that the sprig existed and that we could indeed drive to the nearby trailhead, and that there was a gas station about 30 miles away (more on that later.) Her enthusiasm was... well... missing in action, but she did provide us with information as requested. We were glad that there was a ranger there, because the hiker safety pamphlet indicated that in the case of any sort of emergency whatsoever we should contact said ranger. Somehow.

Climate/weather:
Once again we had rain during our drive, but a beautiful day when we arrived! It was a little bit chilly, but warm enough that hiking with a jacket was comfortable. Please note, the hiking pamphlet indicated that hypothermia is a possibility, so dress appropriately. (Heat stroke is also a possibility, so dress appropriately.)

Facilities/signage:
The visitor's center had a really well done display inside, we enjoyed our (short and sweet) walk through. The bathrooms were solid. They were definitely clean and well kept, with running water and soap dispensers. Sadly no hand sanitizer, but everything else was ship shape. The entrance sign was sneaky. There is an outer entrance sign that is unremarkable, but when you get to the visitor's center there is a 2nd sign that is smaller, but way cooler. Take your pictures there! The road signs throughout the park were well done, but the signs on the trail were woefully lacking. We weren't actually sure we were on the trail until we came to the first fork (about .2 miles into it) and saw the first sign. The spring was also a way off the trail and unmarked (there is an information sign, but it doesn't indicate the presence or location of the spring.)

Hiking experience:
Besides the lack of signage the trail was quite nice and well maintained. The mountainside scenery and foliage is really pretty and worth spending some time in if you have it to spend. There are quite a few trails in this park and very few roads, so most of it can only be experienced via hiking. Since this is a desert and there are very few roads if you are going on long hikes it is important to prepare accordingly (bring lots of water!)

Driving experience:
Brief. The road only cut through about 1 mile of the park, but the view from the road of the park is surprisingly pretty (especially after hours of driving through Texas!)

Camping options:
There are 2 campgrounds here, and backpacking is also an option (free permit required.) The biggest difficulty about backpacking is that there are no water sources in the uplands, so bringing enough water can be a very heavy task.

Hammockability:
Hammocking is actually an option here, with some small but sturdy looking trees clustered close enough to provide good anchor points dotting the landscape that we explored. These trees may not exist everywhere in the park, but they do exist in some areas (near the visitor's center there are actually quite a few good locations.)

Scenery:
This park is a breath of fresh air after driving through Texas, it is definitely pretty, and the trails offer good views of the surrounding park areas. It isn't an epic beauty like some of the more famous parks, but enjoyable none the less.

Nearby food:
Your options are definitely limited. The town (that may be a generous term for this collection of buildings) of White's City (30 minutes away) has a store with basic foods (chips, etc.) but not really enough for a good meal. After that the next option is Carlsbad (an hour from the park) which has more food options.

This park isn't terribly accessible, but it is definitely worth a visit, especially as part of a larger road trip/excursion. Fortunately for this park Carlsbad Caverns is right next door and makes it a lot easier to justify swinging down in a combined trip style adventure. If you are planning to spend more than a day at this park, plan on doing some walking, a backpacking trip into the uplands sounds like it would be worth the effort.

After leaving the park, we proceeded directly to the nearest gas station. The nearest gas was 30 miles away, and we left the park with the needle on empty. As this park is in the middle of nowhere, we really weren't too excited about running out of gas. This really felt like a moment where God is in the little things. We knew we shouldn't make it, we prayed that he would somehow get us there, and literally when we were in sight of the gas station, we started to feel the car sputtering and coasted the rest of the way in. Amazing!

We filled up and headed to our campsite! Tomorrow, Carlsbad Caverns!