Where to begin! Let's just say we picked the right place: www.nps.gov/gumo is the government link.

The Guadalupe Mountains are simply perfect for a backpacker looking for a 2 day moderate to strenuous hike. We ascended 2000+ ft on the first day on the Tejas Trail, set up a base camp, and then were free to ramble up top on the Bowl Trail and Juniper Trail. The cool thing about the Guadalupes is that there is mostly desert terrain at the bottom, but once you climb up there are pine trees everywhere. The length of our trip was limited by the amount of water we could carry, since there is no water available once you start.

Gorgeous views the whole hike, and although the climb is definitely a tall one, the trails are well graded and maintained. We saw plenty of mule deer and lizards and butterflies and birds. The temperature was about 60-70 degrees in the day time and 30-40 degrees at night, and we were there late March. It did get windy at night too.

Within the rest of the park, there are plenty of day trails ranging from handicapped accessible to a 3000+ ft climb to the highest point in Texas. We did a really nice day hike called the Smith Spring trail which started at a museum tour of an old ranch house and brought us to a little desert oasis, 2.5 miles loop.

Also, the Guadalupe Mountains are about an hour's drive from the Carlsbad Caverns, which are probably the most amazing earth formation that I've ever seen (we spent about 6 hours down there).

Let me know if you have any questions!

Oh, and yes, I did bring collapsible hoops up the climb (see my posted photo) :-) And it was awesome!