For this trip I spent 6 days exploring 4 National Parks and 1 National Monument across Southern New Mexico and Western Texas. I flew in and out of El Paso, but you could also extend the trip to include Albuquerque or Phoenix/Tucson if you wanted.
To note: The time zones will flip throughout this journey between central (part of Texas) and mountain time (El Paso and New Mexico).
El Paso, Texas
El Taquito: A popular spot for Mexican near the airport. A great spot to stop on your way in or out of town!
Craftbox Fill Station and Bar: A solid beer bar with 19 taps in the suburbs. They have a cool shared beer garden space and it would be a great spot to watch sports.
Scenic Drive: A nice, quick drive with nice mountain and city views. I actually prefered the views from Rim Road, right before the scenic drive starts, more.
Franklin Mountains State Park: This park is right in the city and you can see the mountains everywhere you go.
Stay at this Airbnb: It is a great little spot and super cheap that still has good amenities.
Hope & Anchor: A solid bar near the UTEP campus. It says it is a craft beer bar but they did not actually have a beer menu and the bartender was unhelpful, but I enjoyed my tasty and cheap cocktail on their nice patio.
Craft Rhythm & Brews: A woman and veteran owned brewery with a small snack menu and beer cocktails along with their tap list of average beers.
To note: Dead Perezidents Brewpub is where I would recommend visiting based on my research but they were closed when I was in town.
Absolutely skip Salt + Honey Bakery Café: The owner attacked me on Instagram after I said nice things about their business, but just wished the side options had something for breakfast, not 7am French fries. 0/10.
Organ Mountain Desert Peaks National Monument
Pine Tree Trail: This trail is 5.3 miles long with 1,049ft of elevation gain and is rated moderate. The trailhead is 1.5 hours north of El Paso directly on the route to White Sands National Park. It takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes to complete and winds through the desert with some pretty views of The Needles and the surrounding area. It is a very quiet trail and a little boring.
White Sands National Park
White Sands is a smaller National Park with just one road and a handful of trails. A half day visit is plenty to soak it all in. Be sure to keep in mind that walking in sand is always harder than walking on a hard surface and you will tire faster, especially in the desert heat and sun. Bring a sled to the park for even more sand dune fun.
Backcountry Camping Trail: This trail takes about an hour to complete the full loop, but you can do as much or as little as you’d like. It is a great spot to see the sunset!
Dune Life Nature Trail: This trail is just over a mile long with two dune climbs and takes about 25 minutes to complete. It is a good introduction to the dunes but a little boring.
Alkali Flat Trail: Another popular trail option going deeper in the dunes, this one is much longer and though it says “flat” in the name it is not a flat trail.
Alamogado, New Mexico
Alamogado is 20 minutes from White Sands. This small town has a lot of chain restaurants and seems to exist mostly for the park tourists.
575 Brewing: A popular spot with frequent live music, a nice outdoor patio, a small food menu + frequent food trucks, a large tap list + wine and N/A options. The beer quality is not great, but the atmosphere is nice.
Stay at the Hampton Inn: It’s a nice, newer hotel conveniently located on the way into town.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
It is just over 3 hours from White Sands to Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico’s two National Parks. There are a couple of surface trails here, but the main attraction is going into the cave itself. Plan on about a half day to take it all in.
Reservations are required—if you’d like to go on a ranger led tour these book up pretty far in advance, but even to go on a self-led walk you’ll need a reservation to enter the cave. Things to note: don’t bring anything into the cave that has been in any other cave, this is to protect the bats. They have dog kennels available if needed while you tour the cave so no pets are allowed.
Natural Entrance Trail + Big Room Trail: This is the main route through Carlsbad Caverns. It is about 2.5 miles long and winds down the Natural Entrance through the cave and the loop of the Big Room and then back up to the visitor’s center via the elevator. Keep your eyes peeled for Whales Mouth and Green Lake Room, two of my favorite parts! Be sure to at least walk into the Big Room, even if you are not up for doing the full loop—it’s awesome.
Carlsbad Caverns Visitor Center and Chihuahuan Desert Nature Trail: This is a mostly flat ~1 mile trail near the Natural Entrance. It is a pretty boring loop but a good way to kill time if you arrive before your reservation. You start the trail via the visitor’s center, not the parking lot as indicated on AllTrails.
Bat Flight Amphitheater: See the bats take flight and hear a talk from a ranger. This program starts in late May and runs through October.
Carlsbad, New Mexico
This is a small town with a lot of chain restaurants, heavy traffic, and heavy wind. It’s convenient to stay before or after visiting the cave, but otherwise it can be skipped.
El Jimador Restaurant: A solid, popular spot for Mexican.
Milton’s Brewing: The local brewery with frequent live music. The tap list is not personally my ideal with lots of Browns and Reds, but it is popular with locals.
Stay at the Fairfield Inn: It is a little outdated but there is a pool which is great for the desert heat.
Lake Carlsbad: A nice little swimming area and walking trails on the Pecos River.
Grind Time Coffee: Solid spot to grab coffee in a food truck park.
Guadalupe Mountain Brewing: This spot did not have a beer license for several months (including when I visited) so I can’t imagine the quality is very high. The staff was also quite rude when I asked about it since it was unclear that there was no beer at the brewery.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
This National Park is 50 minutes from Carlsbad, New Mexico just across the Texas boarder. It’s a small park with limited activities and trails.
Guadalupe Peak Trail: This trail is rated hard and is a grind at times over the 11ish miles with 2,949ft of elevation gain. It leads to the highest point in Texas with sweeping views. The first 1.5 miles are the hardest and most exposed to the sun. The trail is rocky and the trailhead parking is limited but there is overflow a half mile away at the visitor’s center. The trail takes about 5 hours to complete plus however long you’d like at the summit.
Marfa, Texas
Marfa is a little artsy town between Guadalupe Mountains National Park and Big Bend National Park. It is essentially in the middle of nowhere, but a nice spot to break up a drive.
Convenience West: This restaurant is a James Beard Award finalist specializing in BBQ. They are only open Friday and Saturday from 5 until sold out, so go early and expect a wait. Really fantastic food and cool spot. They only have outdoor dining or to-go.
Prada Marfa: A random “piece of art” 30 minutes outside of town on the way in from Van Horn
Para Llevar: A cute little bodega with pizza, salad, and bread with a nice outdoor area. Pizza is average.
Terlingua, Texas
Terlingua is known as a “Ghost Town” because it was abandoned after the mining boom. The population here is 127 people, but it swells with tourists thanks to its location 10 minutes from the entrance to Big Bend National Park.
Stargaze! This area is home to one of the darkest skies in the country so make sure to spend some time at night looking at the beautiful skies!
Espresso y Poco Más: A cute little spot for breakfast, lunch, and coffee with a lovely patio. It is a little pricey for what you get, but expected for a tourist town.
Starlight Theater: A popular spot in an old movie theater for dinner and drinks. They also have a patio space.
I stayed at this Airbnb which was quite nice! It’s close to town and to the park with a nice little patio and thoughtful touches.
Taqueria el Milagro: Solid spot for tacos, plates and apps with outdoor seating. They are BYOB.
Canyon Brew Coffee/Bella Bean Coffee Shop: A quick spot for coffee and a small breakfast menu on the go. Also a little pricey, but a tourist town.
El Gordo’s: A popular spot for tacos and burritos for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but their google hours are incorrect as a forewarning.
Big Bend National Park
Big Bend is the largest National Park in the country! It is divided into three main sections: Chisos Basin, Eastside, and Westside. Each section is a decent distance away from another so plan at least a couple of days to explore this big park.
Beware of flash flooding in the summer months and the dangerous heat in the park in most months. I visited in April and it would be 70 degrees when I entered the park in the morning and 100 degrees when I left in the afternoon. There is little to no shade in the entire park.
Chisos Basin:
Lost Mine Trail: This lovely trail is 5.6 miles long with 1,131ft of elevation gain. It is rated moderate and takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes to complete. There are nice sweeping views along this trail and it’s not too difficult. I highly recommend going all the way to the tippy top at the end of the trail. There is very limited parking at the trailhead so try to go at an off time.
The Window Trail: This trail is 6.4 miles long with 948ft of elevation gain and is rated moderate. There are some nice views along the way and towards the end there is a cool canyon to journey through. The trail leads to a little pop out view that is “the window". It is a descent trail, so keep in mind that you’ll need to hike back up after hiking out to the viewpoint, and it is a very exposed trail so the earlier you start the better. Overall it takes about 2.5 hours.
Window View Trail: This an alternative option that is just .4 miles long and flat, showing views over top of The Window Trail.
The Chisos Mountain Lodge, a visitor’s center, and a camp store all here at trailheads.
Westside:
Santa Elena Canyon Trail: This trail is 2.4 miles long with 219ft of elevation gain and is rated easy. It travels along the Rio Grande River that divides the United States and Mexico. The trail heads up a few switchbacks before flattening out and ends when the canyon walls hit the river. It takes about 40 minutes to complete plus however long you’d like to hang out at the river. It is a nice spot to bring a picnic or a beverage and sit in the shade with the view. The trailhead is located at the end of the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.
Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive: A nice journey through the park, but nothing too epic—I think the drive into the park from Terlingua is more epic. The Sotol Vista Overlook and Mule Ears Viewpoint are both cool to see.
Eastside:
This area is known for the Rio Grande Village, Boquillas Canyon, and Hot Springs.
