Parking
Park at McKittrick Canyon Visitor Center. The signed trailhead is on the far side of the building from its parking lot. Restrooms and drinking water are available in the trailhead area.
Overview
About Pratt Cabin Trail
Why go
- A historic stone cabin and porch give the canyon walk a memorable turnaround.
- A shorter destination hike than continuing to the Grotto and upper canyon.
Heads up
- A rocky 4.8-mile round trip, even though the grade is moderate.
- The cabin interior may be closed when no staff are present.
Pratt Cabin Trail is a moderate 4.8-mile out-and-back from McKittrick Canyon Trailhead to a historic stone home at the forks of the canyon. Plan on two to four hours. It is a satisfying day hike when you want a real destination without continuing farther up canyon to the Grotto or beyond. The 4.8 miles includes the return; the mapped line follows the shared trail corridor once.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the hike for you?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Guadalupe Mountains map
Full mapElevation5,003–5,233 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
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 Pratt Cabin Trail, 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 trailhead
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 this trailhead in the Parkwolf Guadalupe Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Madrone’s Peeling Trunk
- Trout in a Desert Canyon
- Pratt's Ship on the Desert
- A Shell from the Permian Sea
- 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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Pratt Cabin Trail
Along the canyon floorThe route stays low in McKittrick Canyon, on rough tread described as loose or hardened rock.
The route stays low in McKittrick Canyon, on rough tread described as loose or hardened rock. You follow the wash toward the upper canyon and cross its stream before reaching the cabin. Allow for one or two crossings; descriptions differ on the count. At the wash, pause to pick out the established path on the far bank instead of continuing upstream on the gravel bed. Hiking poles can help on the uneven surface.
The cabin is the payoffWallace Pratt's stone cabin and its outbuildings sit where the canyon's north and south forks…
Wallace Pratt's stone cabin and its outbuildings sit where the canyon's north and south forks meet. The porch and picnic area make a natural place to rest before turning back. The cabin interior is open only when a ranger or volunteer is present, so treat it as a bonus rather than the reason to hike. There is no restroom at the cabin.
A house made from local stoneThe Pratts used the cabin as a summer home after it was built over the winter of 1931–32.
The Pratts used the cabin as a summer home after it was built over the winter of 1931–32. Its limestone came from a quarry about 4.5 miles away, and stonemason Adolph May laid the distinctive stonework. Wallace Pratt, a geologist, donated more than 5,000 acres including the cabin to the National Park Service in 1963; the park was established in 1972.
Getting in and backPark at McKittrick Canyon Visitor Center; the signed trailhead is on the other side of the…
Park at McKittrick Canyon Visitor Center; the signed trailhead is on the other side of the building from the parking lot. Restrooms and drinking water are available at the trailhead area, but not at the cabin. This is a day-use area: finish and exit before the canyon gate closes at 5 p.m. Mountain Time. Pets are not allowed on park trails.
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.
