Here you can experience three zones of climate in one park, from desert, to lush forest to mountain tops. Just beware that if you are suddenly transported back in time, you will swim with the fishes…
We journeyed south through the desert from Carlsbad Caverns region into the Guadalupe National Park. We parked our RV in the dry camping lot and took Delta Flyer to three sites our first day:
Our first day these three hikes
Pine Springs RV Lot Highlights:
- $7.50 for Senior /Access passholders
- Dry dock only
- 12 quiet hours
- Fab view
Two surprises beat our expectations. Although we stayed mostly in the desert with only a preview of the riparian zone, we spied lots of colorful late spring blooms. And we learned that long ago, the area we explored was 1,500 feet under water.
Our first hike of the day took us part way up the entrance of McKittrick Canyon. Interpretive signage wowed us by pointing out the cliff face once lived as a coral reef:
Start of McKittrick Canyon Nature Trail 
Bill Sims and AJ Barrett happy to hike 
McKittrick Canyon offers a 15 mile out and back trail to the Riparian forest area. 
Prickly pear with wee bees. 
Our first clue that Guadalupe Mountains have a strange story to tell. 
Fossil of an ancient sea creature — possibly a sea cucumber — along the nature trail 
Hard to believe the crest at 1,500 above us was below the surface of a sea. 
We use a Hasselblad camera lens mod on our Motorola phone for the optical zoom 
More prickly pear and what we think is a walking stick cactus. 
Spring along the McKittrick Canyon nature trail. 
Coral in the rocks. 
The nature trail didn’t disappoint.
Our next stop at Frijole Ranch enlightened us to the living conditions of the first non-natives to settle this area. The Ranch looked lush surrounded by huge trees, but those trees caused the closure because of concerns about dangerous winds.
View from the start of the Smith Spring trail. 
Blooms are easy to spot in the desert. 
Agave looks like a weird tree. 
Once a history museum. Not sure if this opens during less windy times. 
The red addition served as bunk house, school house, shed and more through the years. 
Surrounded by trees. Must be a spring nearby. 
But these old trees now offer danger in addition to shade for the ranch house. 
Less exotic flowers pop up thanks to the springs and settlers 
Great question! At this point one wonders… 
Survival! Settlers dammed the spring.
The irony of wind closing the Frijole Ranch didn’t escape us.
The sun would soon slip behind the mountains as the moon arose, but we decided to squeeze in one last hike to the Stagecoach Station.
The Capitan Reef long ago formed under a shallow sea. 
Algae, sponges and other aquatic animals meshed together over millions of years. 
Yucca moon. 
More yucca along the trail to the station. 
You can’t hide your colors in the desert. 
Apache plumes 
Not much remains of what was no doubt an important stop. 
Looking toward the trailhead for Guadalupe Peak, and the area where we camped. 
Imagine the pony express… a stagecoach… 
Tenacious life in the desert 
Bill eyes the setting sun and says, the trail beyond awaits 
Black eyed Susan or her kin? 
Apache plumes turning toward the mountain sunset 
This quartz stood out along the trail.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Salt Flat, Texas
(915) 828-3251
GMNP Website
RVoyager 
Love these!
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I love all of those desert blossoms! Beautiful!
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