Picks and Pans – West Texas and Southern New Mexico

Not only is Guadalupe Mountains National Park located conveniently close to Carlsbad Caverns, it also has some killer hikes and is strikingly beautiful in that desert kind of way. We decided on hiking McKittrick Canyon because we arrived too late for Carlsbad Caverns or the hike to the highest peak in Texas (Guadalupe Peak), but it ended up being a pretty great consolation prize. The hike starts out on white rock with cacti and scrub brush all around, but as you get further into the canyon the vegetation changes quickly and continuously until, near the end of the trail, you start seeing honest to goodness trees (not what I was expecting at the outset).

The facilities are sparse at Pine Springs — no showers, limited campsites, RV spots are just a parking lot — but the scenery makes up for it. Plus, you can set out for Guadalupe Peak right at the campground (the trailhead starts at the RV section of the campground).

Choosing this as a pick doesn’t even begin to describe how highly we recommend Carlsbad Caverns. I am still awestruck with what we saw in there. Looking at our pictures, I still can’t believe that this fantastical underworld really exists. It is simply incredible. If you go (which you must!), give yourself plenty of time and walk down through the natural entrance (if you take the elevator down you wouldn’t understand the scope and magnitude of the place). Oh, and Sean says that if your last name begins with Drubetskoy, plan on being down there for at least 5 hours and bring multiple memory cards.

Carlsbad, New Mexico used to have this Dairy Queen that, along with the all the normal DQ fare, served this really great barbeque. And people loved this barbeque. And so the good people that owned this place, ditched all that fast food crap, and now, under their new name, serve up this same good barbeque. And we got to eat it. And it was yummy.

White Sands is otherworldly. As you drive into it, the normal desert landscape gives way to bright white sand dunes that stretch for over 20 miles. It is breathtaking. And once you get over your initial awe, you realize how superfun it is to run up and then slide down these huge dunes. Go at sunrise or sunset or get a backpacking permit to stay over night.. Thanks for the super tip Julien!

We were exhausted. After 4.5 hours in Carlsbad Caverns, some driving, a little sand dune climbing and a hard rebound from Sean’s intestinal bug, we were ready to collapse, regardless of the quality of campground we pulled into at around 10pm. So when we got our road weary rear ends out of the van to find an expansive starry night sky and full moon behind the desert mountains that surrounded our campsite, we were happy…very happy. Oliver Lee Memorial State Park is beautiful, has nice bath facilities and really well designed shade structures (important in a desert campground). We highly recommend it, especially if you’re going out to see White Sands.

The campground is across from a natural gas power plant, the power lines that run above the campsites buzz loudly, there are tons of bugs both at the campsites and everywhere in the bathroom, and we never did find the one hiking trail that was on the map. However, the lake is probably really nice if you have jet skis (which you probably do because there’s nothing else to do in this godforsaken part of Texas).