Guadaloupe Mountains National Park

Just a few miles south of Carlsbad Caverns is another great National Park, Guadaloupe Mountains.  We planned for a whole day here but the weather was windy and cold, so we got it done in an afternoon.

We started at the Visitor Center, very small and packed when we got there. We grabbed our Junior Ranger packet and headed into the museum area.  We watched the film and then wandered the visitor center.  This Junior Ranger was pretty challenging, lucky for us a couple of college girls finished theirs up and gave my kids a pamphlet from the McKittrick Canyon Geology Center, luckily this answered the questions we couldn’t find anywhere. Thanks girls!!!!

We learned a ton here. This National Park celebrates the Guadalupe people, the desert environment, its beautiful canyons and the highlands. We took a short stroll around the Pine Springs Visitor Center, it was very windy and cold so we wrapped it up quickly and headed out.

We stopped off at the Frijole Ranch to do some hiking.  We parked in the lot and headed out. Dad stayed in the car to study so it was just the kids and I.  It started to warm up a little and once we got moving we were able to shed our coats.  Trails are a little rocky and uneven.  The park map states this trail, the Smith Spring trail is a moderate (I agree) 2.3 mile roundtrip trail. It was a great easy trail to get out and get our blood pumping.  Kids and I enjoyed this hike, must needed fresh air break!  I wish we could have done some more hiking here. We might need to revisit in a warmer month.

We did manage to earn our Junior Rangers and not only did we get the badge we also got this sweet patch to go with it.  I LOVE when we earn patches.

Guadalupe Mountains was a beautiful park, we really enjoyed our time here.  I think you could do this park in 1/2 day to up to 2 days depending on how much hiking you are interested in.  Gorgeous area, have you been here??  What was your favorite hike?

We are heading to El Paso in the morning!  Up next Chamizal National Memorial. Check back on the blog for more.