Improved Dirt Roads

Dagger Flat Auto Trail

NPS Photo/Cookie Ballou

Dagger Flat Auto Trail
This seven-mile road (14 miles round-trip) winds eastward to a small valley where there is a forest of giant dagger yuccas. A self-guiding brochure is available and provides a useful key to plants found in the vicinity. Typically open to all vehicles, this road is an easy drive (also good for mountain biking). Allow two hours to complete the drive. The speed limit on this narrow, winding road is 25 miles per hour. Sandy areas or muddy conditions may exist seasonally; rain makes this road difficult to drive or impassable. Please check at a visitor center for current conditions.

 

Balanced Rock

NPS Photo/Blake Trester

Grapevine Hills Road

Travel approximately 6.4 miles down the Grapevine Hills Road to access the Grapevine Hills trailhead. Here, a 2.2 mile roundtrip desert trail leads to the picturesque Balanced Rock, the highlight along this road. This is a great morning or evening hike, but can be very hot mid-day. Geologically, Grapevine Hill is a laccolith, a mushroom-shaped igneous intrusion that domed the rocks above, and was later exposed by erosion. Grapevine Hills Road is generally accessible to all vehicles, and begins 3.3 miles west of Panther Junction along the north side of the road. After reaching the Grapevine Hills trailhead, the road may become rough and require high-clearance, especially after any rainfall.

 

Historic Post Office at J.O Langford Hot Springs

NPS Photo/Cookie Ballou

Hot Springs Road

This two-mile gravel road descends a rough, narrow wash to the Hot Springs Historic District. Ruins of J.O. Langford's resort are located nearby. From the trailhead, the hot springs is 0.5 mile round- trip. There is also a one-mile loop from the hot springs that circles the bluff above; a third trail leads to Daniels' Ranch in Rio Grande Village, three miles to the east.

Note: Motor homes and oversize vehicles are prohibited on the one-way sections of the Hot Springs road.

 

View along Old Maverick Road

NPS Photo/Blake Trester

Old Maverick Road
The Old Maverick Road runs between Maverick Junction and Santa Elena Canyon. It is a 14-mile improved dirt road that passes along the Terlingua Creek badlands on the west side of the park. A number of historic sites are located near the road that you may visit as you gradually descend to the Rio Grande and Santa Elena.

While usually passable for most vehicles, this road tends to be rough and washboarded; the fourteen miles takes around an hour to drive. This road is subject to high water and flooding following rainstorms.