9 DAYS IN WEST TEXAS: Big Bend + Guadalupe Mountains + Carlsbad + White Sands
We were lucky enough to swing an 9 day vacation this year. With the pandemic in full swing, we decided on a road trip starting from our hometown Houston, Texas. Total drive time ended up being ~35 hr over 9 days. It was worth it considering the fact that we were able to visit 4 national parks and 2 state parks on this trip! There’s definitely the opportunity to visit more on this road trip as well. We’ve listed them as optional opportunities below.
We personally don’t camp in national parks during our trips, but this is always the best way to get the most out of your vacation as you’ll cut driving time off of your day in the morning and evening. We’ve including the cities we stayed at during our trip below.
Don’t forget to read our tips for planning the perfect National Park trip before booking your trip!
- Total Drive Time over 9 days: ~35 hours
- Overall Route: Houston –> Lost Maples –> Garner State Park –> White Sands –> Carlsbad –> Guadalupe Mtns –> Big Bend –> Houston
DAY 1 – Houston to Lost Maples State Park
- Drive from Houston to Lost Maples State Park (4 hr 45 min). Lost Maples Park is one of the many state parks in Texas Hill Country. If you leave Houston early in the morning, you’ll have just enough time to do a hike or two here.
- Stay in Junction, TX
DAY 2 – Garner State Park to El Paso
- Visit Garner State Park in the morning. From Junction, TX where we stayed this was about 1.5 hour drive. I wish we could have spent a longer time at this park, but we had to cut it short due to the long drive straight from Garner State Park to El Paso.
- Drive to El Paso (7 hr) to spend the night
DAY 3 – White Sands
- Drive to White Sands National Park in the morning (1 hr 30 min)
- Visit White Sands NP – We spent about 5 hours here, which was gave us just enough time to get to Carlsbad to spend the night.
- Drive to Carlsbad (3 hr 20 min)
- Stay in Carlsbad, NM
DAY 4 – Carlsbad and Guadalupe Mountains Day 1
- Visit Carlsbad National Park in the morning. Carlsbad will only take about 2 hours to finish if you’re only interested in exploring the caves here.
- Drive to Guadalupe Mountains National Park (30 minutes) – Most people do both Carlsbad and Guadalupe Mountains National Park together as they’re only 30 minutes away from each other. Eat a quick lunch when you get to Guadalupe Mountains, then we recommend the Devil’s Hall hike in the afternoon.
- Stay in Carlsbad, NM
DAY 5 – Guadalupe Mountains Day 2
- Visit Guadalupe Mountains National Park – Today, we highly recommend the Guadalupe Peak Hike! It took us 7 hours to do, but it was so worth it! If you’re looking for easy-moderate hikes we’ve included options in the link above.
- Drive to Alpine, TX (3 hr drive). We chose to stay at the same hotel in Alpine for the next four nights while we explored Big Bend.
- TIP – You’ll pass the Prada store near Marfa, TX taking this route from Guadalupe Mountains NP to Alpine. Make sure to stop and take a photo if you can!
DAY 6 – Fort Davis National Historic Site, Big Bend Day 1
- Visit the Fort Davis National Historic Site this day. This took us about an hour to explore. The America the Beautiful pass gets you in free here. Anther optional opportunity is to visit the Davis Mountains State Park, which is also located in Fort Davis this morning. We didn’t want to spend too much time at another park this morning, since the afternoon will be spent exploring Big Bend.
- Drive to Big Bend (~1.5 hours) – Big Bend (Day 1) – Rio Grande Valley
- We were hoping to see the McDonald Observatory Star Party this night, but it unfortunately was cancelled due to the pandemic
- Stay in Alpine, TX. Alpine is about an hour drive to Big Bend. Note that this is a drive you will be making for the next three days in a row if you choose to stay here. Other options for cities that may be closer to Big Bend include Marathon and Terlingua, but they are both smaller towns.
DAY 7 – Big Bend Day 2
- Drive to Big Bend (~1 hr) – Big Bend Day 2 – Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive – Click the link to find recommended hikes
- See Marfa Lights at dusk. We did in fact see strange orbs of light here. Highly recommend this unique experience!
- Stay in Alpine, TX
DAY 8 – Big Bend Day 3
- Drive to Big Bend (~1 hr)- Big Bend Day 3 – Chisos Basin – Click the link to find recommended hikes
- Stay in Alpine, TX
DAY 9 – Alpine to Houston
- Today is all driving, dress comfy and have a podcast ready
- Drive home from Alpine, TX (8 hr 30 min drive back to Houston)
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