Guadalupe Mountains National Park | Zimmerman Travel Guide
While we were staying in Carlsbad, NM, we visited Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
We did the Guadalupe Mountains National Park as a day trip, and here’s a travel guide of everything we loved about Guadalupe. You can watch our travel video of Guadalupe Mountains National Park here.
Where to stay:
The park offers two different vehicle campgrounds, Dog Canyon in the North and Pine Springs in the South. If you want to tent camp, there are also ten different backcountry campgrounds spread throughout the park! So many good options.
Since we had already made the Carlsbad KOA our hub, we stayed there. It’s about an hour drive from the KOA to the national park.
If you don’t want to camp, either in the wild or in an RV, here’s a list of great local AirBnb options!
Where to eat:
Since we had already waited two hours in the Walmart line to get groceries, we were gonna use them! For a quick day hike, we usually pack lunches and plenty of snacks. The kids each carry their own food and water in their own backpacks.
Here’s what I bring on every hike.
The National Park:
This is a hiking park. I think some people assume that all parks are hiking parks, but that’s not true! For example, the Hot Springs park is in a downtown urban area. It really just depends on the park. But this one is definitely a hiking park.
That’s what you do here— you hike trails. We have three kids with us, so we chose a trail they could handle, Smith Spring Trail. We love to use All Trails to plan our hikes ahead of time and look at what hikes are the best fit for us.
This gives you more info about the hikes available and the one we chose:
If you want more hike options, check out this helpful list! This list includes the hikes with the best views!
Fun Fact:
Guadalupe National Park is only 27 miles from another great National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park! You could hit up both in the same trip if you wanted.
Is it Kid Friendly?
Yes! The kids loved this park. We always do the Jr. Ranger Program, which is such a great way to get the kids involved and excited about the park.
We have some Jr. Ranger activities we complete with each national park. Read more about them here!
Guadalupe Mountains National Park Zimmerman Quick Stats
Size: 86,367 acres
Location: West Texas
Created In: Established as a national park in 1972
Best For: Hiking, horseback riding, backpacking, car camping, peak bagging
What to do: This is a hiking park. That’s what you do here; you hike trails.
What we did: We had three kids with us so we chose a trail they could handle, Smith Spring Trail.
Trail coordinates: 31.90662, -104.80160
Even though Carlsbad was a bit of a flop because so much was shut down when we were there, our day trip to Guadalupe Mountains National Park was a highlight for sure!
Catch up on all our airstream adventures here!