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 Wilderness Ridge Wilderness Campground
Why stop
- Five wooded tent pads beside a route built around Permian fossils.
Heads up
- A strenuous 4.5-mile approach with no water or toilets at camp.
Wilderness Ridge Wilderness Campground is a five-pad, tent-only backcountry camp in the trees above McKittrick Canyon. The hike from McKittrick Canyon Trailhead is 4.5 miles one way with about 2,000 feet of gain; allow five to seven hours for the climb. This is a good fit if you want an overnight on the ridge. It is a big commitment for a quick look at the view.
Parkwolf’s verdictWorth the overnightMap
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 Wilderness Ridge Wilderness Campground, 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 area
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 on the road 2 mi from Wilderness Ridge Wilderness Campground 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
- Pratt's Ship on the Desert
- 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 Wilderness Ridge Wilderness Campground
Carry everything inStart and finish at McKittrick Canyon Trailhead; overnight parking there is limited to…
Start and finish at McKittrick Canyon Trailhead; overnight parking there is limited to backpackers with a Wilderness Use Permit. Every overnight stay needs a permit, and the five sites are tent pads only. There is no potable water or toilet at camp, so carry all your water and bring one landfill-safe toilet bag per person per night. Pack out trash and waste. Fires are prohibited, so use a backpacking stove. Pets are not allowed on trails or in the backcountry. The south-facing climb gets full sun and can be dangerously hot in summer; fall, winter, and spring are the recommended seasons.
A ridge trail built around geologyThe route climbs from rocky slopes into trees, then gets gentler across forest and open patches…
The route climbs from rocky slopes into trees, then gets gentler across forest and open patches on the ridge. The campground sits among the trees; continue along the trail to reach the escarpment edge and broad views into South McKittrick Canyon. The trail was designed to show off the park’s Permian-age geology and fossil features, so the walk is part of the point, not just the way to camp.
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.
