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Map of Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas. The park has an irregular circle shape and is outlined in dark green, and the area within it is tan and pale green. The surrounding area is light beige, and trails are represented by dashed and dotted lines.

Extended Description

The park runs along the northern New Mexico-Texas border all the way down to the Patterson Hills and the Delaware Mountains near the bottom of the map; in the southwest, the park boundary skirts around a vast area of dry salt lake labeled as the Salt Basin. Most of the right side of the park is shaded green with the Guadalupe Mountains running through it. This Wilderness Area is where most of the trails and landmarks are in the park.

The other half of the park is shaded tan and is mostly flat. The sites in this half of the park include the Butterfield Stage Route, which cuts through it diagonally from the Crow Flats in the upper left to joint US Highways 62 and 180 in the lower right; the Gypsum Sand Dunes, a small area in white speckled with black dots near the western border of the park; and the Salt Basin Dunes along Williams Road which is isolated from the rest of the park and cannot be accessed from any other park road or trail. The Salt Basin Dunes are for day use only, are wheelchair-accessible, and have a picnic area and parking. From here, the Dunes Trail leads east to the northern edge of the Gypsum Sand Dunes.

There are three primary points of entry to the green-shaded Wilderness Area to the right side of the map. At the top of the park on the state border is Dog Canyon at 6,290 feet, 1,917 meters along State Highway 137. It has a ranger station, picnic area, campground, and wheelchair access.

The Indian Meadow Nature Trail (hiking trail), Bush Mountain Trail (horse trail), and Tejas Trail (horse trail) each start at Dog Canyon. The short Indian Meadow Nature Trail forms a tiny loop just east of Dog Canyon. The Bush Mountain Trail begins as a horse trail heading west, then south into the Wilderness Area, past the Marcus, where it becomes a hiking trail, to Blue Ridge, and Bush Mountain wilderness campgrounds until it ends at the Pine Top wilderness campground. The Marcus Trail (horse trail) leads from Marcus to Blue Ridge Trail (horse trail) which loops back to Tejas Trail (horse trail) which heads north to join back with Bush Mountain Trail. It passes Lost Peak (7,830 feet, 2,387 meters), then accesses the Mescalero, Tejas, and Pine Top wilderness campgrounds, before it ends near the Pine Springs Visitor Center which has a ranger station, campground, picnic area, and wheelchair access along the stepped border in the lower-right area of the park.

The second point of entry for the park is the McKittrick Canyon Visitor Center (5,013 feet, 1,528 meters) in the northeastern corner of the park. This is accessible via a gated service road off US Highway 62/180, which is locked at night. The wheelchair-accessible Visitor Center is for day use only. There is a picnic area and ranger station at the Visitor Center and three trails lead from it.

The McKittrick Nature trail forms a short loop just west of the Visitor Center at 5,013 feet, 1,528 meters. The Permian Reef Trail heads north toward the state border, turns westward to pass the Wilderness Ridge primitive campground, and disappears off the map after cutting north through Lincoln National Forest. The McKittrick Canyon Trails heads west into the Wilderness Area and slowly winds southwest into its namesake canyon. It passes the Pratt Cabin picnic area, the Grotto picnic area, the Hunter Line Shack, and the McKittrick Ridge wilderness campground before ending at the Tejas Trail at a point above South McKittrick Canyon.

The third point of entry for the park is the aforementioned Pine Springs Visitor Center along the southeastern edge of the park off US Highway 62/180. This Visitor Center has a ranger station, campground, picnic area, and wheelchair access. There are two other wheelchair-accessible picnic areas along the highway traveling south from the Visitor Center, but neither has restrooms. Also near the Visitor Center is the Pinery Butterfield Stage Station Ruins with wheelchair access, Horse Corral and Campground, and Frijole Ranch History Museum with a picnic area and wheelchair access. All three are located up US Highway 62/180 from the Visitor Center. The ruins and museum are both wheelchair accessible. There is also a picnic area at the museum.

There are several trails that extend out from the Pine Springs Visitor Center. The Foothills Trail extends up to the Frijole Ranch History Museum. From there, the Smith Spring Trail creates a small, northward loop, while the Frijole Trail heads west into the park, then loops back down to the Foothills Trail. The Bear Canyon branches off the Frijole Trail. From here, the Juniper Trail ends along the Tejas Trail while the Bowl Trail makes a short loop before extending eastward to end at the Pine Top wilderness campground.

Back at the Pine Springs Visitor Center, the Guadalupe Peak Trail extends out from here to the west, passes the Guadalupe Peak Wilderness Campground, and ends at Guadalupe Peak. At an elevation of 8,751 feet (2,667 meters), it is the highest peak in Texas. The El Capitan Trail meanwhile branches off the Guadalupe Peak Trail near the visitor center and winds down toward the lower area of the park before winding to the left, passing the Salt Basin Trail, which leads to Salt Basin Overlook and circles back around to form a loop; and Shumard Canyon primitive campground before ending at Williams Ranch along Bone Canyon. The much shorter Devil’s Hall trail also branches off from Guadalupe Peak Trail, heading a short distance west and north into Pine Spring Canyon.

Inset Map

In the lower right corner of the map is an inset that shows a smaller, zoomed-out view of the park with major details like highways, towns, and the three visitor entry points in the park. These include Dog Canyon with a campground, McKittrick Canyon Visitor Center, and Pine Springs Visitor Center (5,734 feet, 1,748 meters) with Pine Springs campground. Lincoln National Forest, shaded in darker yellow, stretches up and into the top left corner of the map. Carlsbad Caverns National Park has a Visitor Center and is southeast of Lincoln National Forest. Whites City is on the western border of Carlsbad Caverns National Park and has gas and camping

Towns outside of the parks include Dell City to the west, which has a gas station; Whites City to the northeast, at the eastern end of Carlsbad Caverns National Park and with a gas station and campground; Malaga, situated east of Whites City; and Carlsbad in the top right corner, with a gas station and campground. A scale in the lower right corner of the inset map measures distances of 10 and 20 kilometers and 10 and 20 miles.

Legend

Below the inset map, a scale for the main map measures distances of 1 and 2 kilometers and 1 and 2 miles.

Below the scale is a note that reads, “Do not use this map for wilderness travel. Buy topographic maps at visitor centers.”

The legend continues as follows:

Gray line for Unpaved road,

White line with dashed black casing line for Unpaved road (4-wheel drive, high-clearance vehicles only),

Dashed black line for Hiking trail,

Dotted brown line for Horse and hiking trail, and

Oval with dotted blue stripes for Dry salt lake.

To the right of the legend are seven symbols that represent Ranger station, Picnic area, Gas station, Parking, Wheelchair-accessible, Campground, and Wilderness campground.