McKittrick Canyon

Since McKittrick Canyon is a hundred miles east of El Paso and two hundred miles due west of Midland, you could say it’s in the middle of nowhere. So, as far as viewing fall foliage you’re pretty much on your own out here. But it’s a great place to be on your own--Guadalupe Peak is here (Texas’ tallest and the tallest of any mountain east of here, too) and just south of it is El Capitan, the state’s most famous natural landmark. Carlsbad Caverns are 40 miles up the road. There are also a canyon and 80 miles of trails that wind to hidden thickets, forests and woodlands. What isn’t here are gas stations, motels, restaurants, concessionaires, and tour buses.

The most popular hike in the park is the trail into McKittrick Canyon--a 7-mile roundtrip past lavishly brilliant stands of autumn foliage: big-tooth maple, several varieties of oak, walnut, and ash, and the Texas madrone (which grows only in the Trans-Pecos and the Edwards Plateau). You’ll also find a picnic area near a cool, wet limestone overhang.

McKittrick Ridge switchback is another option for viewing the fall spectacle. You’ll hike past a shady fern-choked seep before you arrive at a stand of maples about four hundred feet above the canyon floor.

Maples, madrones, oaks, and ashes at the end of the Smith Spring hike are a colorful reward. The 2.3-mile trail courses through the foothills from the Frijole Ranch parking area and ends at a babbling brook.

Of course, the biggest and most irresistible challenge is the trek up Guadalupe Peak, a strenuous hike ever upward that will take all day. It’s a 9.3-mile roundtrip, an almost 3000-foot vertical climb with a stunning panorama that just gets more dramatic the higher you go. The view stretches all the way to New Mexico.

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