Best time to go
Winter, spring, and fall are better seasons. Summer heat can make the hike unsafe or unpleasant, and winds above 30 mph are expected from November through March. Check conditions before heading out.
Overview
About Lost Peak
Why stop
- At 7,830 feet, it stands five feet above Big Bend’s Emory Peak.
Heads up
- The established route ends at the saddle; the summit requires off-trail navigation.
Map
Where it is
Loading the Guadalupe Mountains map
Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
Best time to go
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
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Guadalupe Mountains Tour Guide
Your drive to Lost Peak, 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
Dog Canyon: A Meadow Walk and Wildlife0:00 / 0:35
“Dog Canyon is ahead, a wooded base for exploring the park's northern side.”
Plays as you drive up to Lost Peak in the Parkwolf Guadalupe Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Pine Springs: The Guadalupe Peak Climb
- Frijole Ranch: An Orchard Fed by Springs
- Pine Springs Visitor Center and the Pinery
- The Tree with Alligator Bark
- 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 Lost Peak
What you’re hiking forLost Peak is a 7,830-foot summit above Dog Canyon and Texas’s ninth-highest point, five feet…
Lost Peak is a 7,830-foot summit above Dog Canyon and Texas’s ninth-highest point, five feet above Emory Peak in Big Bend. It’s a worthwhile high-point hike if you like open country and don’t mind a rough, off-trail finish; the wide western desert view is the payoff.
The marked hikeStart at Dog Canyon Trailhead and follow Tejas Trail just over three miles to Lost Peak Saddle.
Start at Dog Canyon Trailhead and follow Tejas Trail just over three miles to Lost Peak Saddle. The named out-and-back is 6.4 miles round trip with 1,386 feet of elevation change; the estimated time is three to six hours. Those figures end at the saddle, not the summit. Accessible parking is available at the trailhead, and hiking poles are recommended for the rocky trail.
The final approach is off trailThere’s no trail to Lost Peak’s top.
There’s no trail to Lost Peak’s top. The final walk leaves the marked route for open, rocky ground; no summit track or distance is published. If you don’t want to navigate off trail, enjoy the saddle’s own west and south views and turn back. A detailed topographic map is the right tool for wilderness travel here.
Look west from the summitThe summit is breezy and open, with wide views across the desert to the west.
The summit is breezy and open, with wide views across the desert to the west. For a photo, frame the cairn against the distant landscape; it gives the rocky foreground a clear subject and shows how open the top is.
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.
