Guadalupe Mountains National Park

We had one major hiking day in Guadalupe Mountains, so we made it count: Guadalupe Peak and Devil's Hall on the same day.

It was ambitious, but it ended up being a great combination. Guadalupe Peak gave us the hard, steady climb and enormous views we wanted. Devil's Hall changed the terrain completely, sending us through a rocky wash with scrambling and a natural rock staircase. They felt like two totally different hikes without moving the car.

Guadalupe Peak was the reason to come

Guadalupe Peak is the highest point in Texas at 8,751 feet. The standard trail starts at Pine Springs and climbs about 3,000 feet in roughly 4.2 miles to the summit. The National Park Service rates it very strenuous, and that feels right.

The climbing is steady, with the steepest sustained section in roughly the first mile and a half. What made it work for us was that the views kept getting better as we climbed. This was not a hike where we spent hours in the trees waiting for a payoff at the end. The landscape kept opening up.

The trail changes more than we expected

After the exposed lower switchbacks, the route wraps onto a cooler north-facing slope with pine forest. Near the top there is a short flatter section and then another final climb to the summit. The contrast between desert below and higher-elevation forest was part of what made the hike interesting.

At the summit, the views over the surrounding mountains and Chihuahuan Desert are enormous. This was absolutely worth the climb for us.

Then we added Devil's Hall

Instead of calling it a day after Guadalupe Peak, we combined it with Devil's Hall. Both routes use the Pine Springs trail system, and there is a connecting route that lets strong hikers transition toward Devil's Hall without simply returning to the parking lot and starting over.

Devil's Hall is officially about 4.2 miles round trip if hiked by itself. The first section is a constructed trail, but the fun part is the rocky wash. From there, route finding becomes less obvious and you scramble over boulders and debris through Pine Spring Canyon.

The "wall" we remembered was the Hiker's Staircase

One of our strongest memories was reaching what felt like a rock wall and climbing up it. That is the Hiker's Staircase, a natural staircase formed by layers of limestone. It leads into the narrow canyon section near Devil's Hall.

We thought this part was fun. The scrambling itself was not the hardest part of our day, but doing it after climbing Guadalupe Peak made the combination much more demanding than either mileage number suggests.

Would we combine Guadalupe Peak and Devil's Hall again?

Our combined route was roughly 11 miles with more than 3,000 feet of total climbing. The exact mileage depends on how you use the Pine Springs connector, so we would treat that as a planning estimate rather than an official trail distance.

Yes, for strong hikers. Guadalupe Peak alone is normally a 6 to 8 hour outing, and Devil's Hall is normally listed as another 3 to 5 hours when done independently. Combining them through the Pine Springs trail network can avoid some duplicated mileage, but it is still a long day with roughly 3,000 feet of major climbing followed by rocky scrambling.

For us, the combination was better than doing only Guadalupe Peak because the second half did not feel repetitive. We went from huge summit views to climbing through a wash and up a natural rock staircase.

One more planning issue: there is almost nothing at the park

There is no gas, restaurant, lodge or grocery store in the park. Arrive with a full tank, plenty of water, food and everything you need for the hiking day.