McKittrick Canyon (Guadalupe Mountains National Park)

Fall colors are not something you expect to see while living in the desert, but Cara and I were able to take a short day trip to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX for a saunter through McKittrick Canyon. This trail is very popular in the fall because of the many bigtooth maple trees that show their colors in late October and early November. We arrived early on a Sunday morning to beat the crowds and the weather turned out to be beautiful.

I’ve visited the Guads on several other occasions and experienced near hurricane force winds and freezing cold in the winter and thunderstorms and stifling heat in the summer. The mountains are rugged and boast the highest point in Texas —Guadalupe Peak at 8,751’.

Read my posts: The Top of Texas and Bush Mountain

Texas Madrone Tree

The McKittrick Canyon Trail is a mostly flat gravel path that is suitable for young children or ultramarathoners who’ve been too unhealthy to run much lately —aka me. This was the perfect adventure to pull me out of my funk since I hadn’t been outside much lately. When we first started the hike, I couldn’t image there would be any colorful foliage because we were surrounded by succulents, cacti, scrubby bushes and brown dead grass. We passed a few alligator juniper trees; so called for their bark that resembles the skin of an alligator.

Berries on a Texas madrone

The most amazing trees, though, were the Texas Madrone. These are easy to identify because of their pinkish orange smooth bark that peels away from the trunk. In the fall they sport bright red berries that supply food for birds. In addition, Native Americans and the Tarahumara of Northern Mexico made many uses from madrone trees. 

Alex Shoumatoff in Legends of the American Desert writes, “[Tarahumara] eat their red berries, treat kidney ailments with their bark and flowers, and make balls for the [rarájipari] game from their wood.” Rarájipari is the Rarámuri running game that most of us know from the book Born to Run. 

Watch the Rarájipari game:

Indeed we passed many madrone trees that were full of berries and I had to stop at every one to take pictures. The towering cliffs and mountains added to the beauty, but we still hadn’t seen a single maple tree. We continued on through a dry wash with travertine terraced rocks on one side. We also passed a few gnarled and twisted dead trees along the way and crossed the creek bed once again; this time with a shallow trickle of water.

Finally a few orange and red trees appeared and then became more abundant as we made our way deeper into the canyon. The trail continues for a long way eventually connecting to the Tejas and Blue Ridge trails in the interior of the park. This would be a good trail to run one way from the McKittrick visitor center to the Pine Springs trailhead, a distance of 18 miles, provided you had a shuttle. 

We came to the creek again and this time had to hop on small rocks to keep from getting our feet wet. Eventually a short side trail took us to an old homestead. Wallace Pratt, a geologist working for Humble Oil, built a cabin in the canyon as a summer retreat for his family and their guests. This is an amazing structure built mostly of stone including the roof! The grounds are peaceful and shady making a perfect spot to rest and enjoy a snack on a hot day. Volunteers open the cabin so you can go inside to enjoy the wooden rafters, beams and furnishings. 

Pratt Cabin

This was the end of the line for us, but the trail continues on to a grotto in another mile and then to the Notch, a steep climb with many narrow switchbacks. A trip to the Notch and back would be around 10 miles. We rested at the Pratt Cabin for a short while and then moseyed back to our car for a total of five miles. On the way out, Cara spotted a herd of collared peccaries (Javelinas).

Javelina

The hike was well worth it and gave us a taste of fall especially since we had been experiencing many days above 80 degrees. It’s difficult to see fall colors when living in the desert, but McKittrick Canyon makes it possible. The best time to go is a few weeks before Thanksgiving. Don’t forget to fill up with gas because there are no facilities in the area unless you continue on to Whites City, NM near Carlsbad Caverns. On the way home I learned that my Honda Fit can travel at least 30 miles with the gas light on. 

See you on the trail.