1 active Guadalupe Mountains alert
- CautionDevil’s Hall wash dangerous when wetThe Devil’s Hall hike is strenuous, and its wash section is dangerous when wet or if water is present. - The wash requires rock scrambling.Official details
Overview
About Hunter Line Shack
Why stop
- Nearby tack-room remains make the ranching story visible on the ground.
Heads up
- Seven miles round trip is a substantial walk for one modest structure.
Hunter Line Shack is a low stone ranch building tucked into South McKittrick Canyon, a hiking destination a short way beyond the Grotto. Add it if you want a real piece of the park’s ranching history and are already up for a canyon hike; as a quick building stop, it asks too much of your day.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs the long walk for you?Map
Where it is
Loading the Guadalupe Mountains map
Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Guadalupe Mountains Tour Guide
Your drive to Hunter Line Shack, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Guadalupe Mountains National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
McKittrick Canyon: A Walk to Pratt Cabin0:00 / 0:27
“McKittrick Canyon's trailhead is coming up. I'd choose the walk to Pratt Cabin, a stone summer home with a porch for a break. It's four point eight miles round trip, taking two to four hours on rocky ground.”
Plays as you drive up to Hunter Line Shack in the Parkwolf Guadalupe Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Madrone’s Peeling Trunk
- Dog Canyon: A Meadow Walk and Wildlife
- Trout in a Desert Canyon
- The Yucca's Tiny Partner
- 22 audio storiesacross Guadalupe Mountains’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Aoudad, Mule Deer, Wild Turkey, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 32 trails, 34 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
More about Hunter Line Shack
Make it a canyon lunch stopStone picnic tables sit near the shack, with exposed cave features nearby.
Stone picnic tables sit near the shack, with exposed cave features nearby. The canyon is day-use only and its gate locks in the evening, so leave enough time to walk back out. Pets aren’t allowed on park trails.
The Hunter-Grisham ranchThe shack was part of the Hunter-Grisham ranching operation that brought smaller West Texas…
The shack was part of the Hunter-Grisham ranching operation that brought smaller West Texas ranches together in the early 1900s. Judge J. C. Hunter owned 70,000 acres in what is now the park, and by the mid-1930s the Hunter family owned most of that land. For about fifty years, the family hosted guests here while managing Guadalupe Mountain Ranch.
Look at the stoneworkThe long, low building is made of irregular stone, with a porch running along its south side…
The long, low building is made of irregular stone, with a porch running along its south side and its north wall built into the hillside. The remains of a tack room sit a short distance north. The National Park Service removed a later wood-frame addition in the 1980s so it wouldn’t add to the structure’s preservation needs.
The full porch and canyon setting make the best view of the shack; a tight crop loses how it fits into the hillside. McKittrick Canyon is especially known for fall color in late October.
Is the long walk for you?The out-and-back is 7 miles round trip, usually 3 to 5 hours, and rated moderate because of the…
The out-and-back is 7 miles round trip, usually 3 to 5 hours, and rated moderate because of the distance. The climb stays under 600 feet, but the trail alternates loose rock and hardened surfaces, so poles can help.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Guadalupe Mountains
33 sightingsAoudadMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
162 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
11 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
34 sightingsCollared PeccaryMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
37 sightingsDiamondback RattlesnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
42 sightingsBlack-tailed RattlesnakeMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Guadalupe Mountains. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
