Smith Spring

Smith Spring is a small spring-fed pool below the Guadalupe Mountains’ eastern escarpment, tucked into a patch of woodland. It’s the payoff on the Smith Spring Loop if you want water and shade after an exposed desert walk. Allow 1 to 2 hours for 2.3 miles round trip and 402 feet of elevation change. The route is rated easy to moderate.

Begin at Frijole Ranch. The loop reaches Manzanita Spring first, then climbs on maintained trail to Smith Spring. The paved, accessible half-mile to Manzanita Spring is only the start; reaching Smith Spring takes the uphill extension on maintained trail. Frijole Ranch parking has shade shelters, picnic tables, water fountains and vault toilets. Benches and interpretive information are available at the spring.

Rain seeps into cracks and joints in limestone and emerges below the escarpment at Smith Spring. A short distance downhill, that water disappears underground before coming back to the surface at Manzanita Spring. Pause at both springs: they’re separate stops on the loop and make the local water system easy to picture.

Ponderosa pine, Texas madrone and big-toothed maple grow in the spring-fed woodland. The madrone has peeling red bark and stays green year-round; it can carry white flowers in spring and red berries in fall. Big-toothed maple leaves turn red and orange in autumn, giving the shaded route its most colorful stretch.

Benches and interpretive information make this a good place to slow down for a few minutes. For a photo, frame the small cascade with the fern-covered rocks and dark pool; that captures the water and greenery that set this spring apart from the exposed walk in.