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My Life Outdoors

Devil’s Hall – Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

Saturday I headed back out to Guadalupe Mountains National Park to do some hiking and take some pictures. With me was a photography student whom I have been working with on some landscape photography. Because the student had not hiked much before, we tried to avoid any serious elevation gain and choose to hike to Devils Hall.

Looking up we cold see the pine forests that grow in the upper elevations of Guadalupe Peak
Hiking along the dry stream bed of Pine Springs Canyon
 Along the way we spotted some Mule Deer

For the first half of our journey we followed the well maintained Guadalupe Peak horse trail. Following the Pain Springs canyon, Hunter peak loomed to the north with Guadalupe Peak to the south. As the canyon slowly narrowed and the Horse trail turned back south snaking up the mountain, we pushed on to the west following the Devil’s Hall Trail. For the next 1.1 miles the trail actually enters the dry canyon bottom of Pine Springs. From this point until you reach Devil’s Hall there is no marked or maintained trail. Large boulders occupy the dry creek bed and require quite a bit of scrambling and maneuvering if you want to stay on course. The canyon continues to narrow and become more scenic the crosser you get to Devil’s Hall. Just before the end you pass through the Devils Gate and ascend the Hiker’s Staircase. The Hiker’s Staircase is a natural rock stairway that looks as if it were built specifically for hikers on their way to Devil’s Hall. Another 100 feet and you enter the unusually narrow canyon that forms Devil’s Hall. The walls on either side look as if a skilled stone mason might have built the hall one stone at a time.

The first flight of the Hikers Stairway
The second flight of the Hiker’s Stairway
Looking east through the Devil’s Gate down the Hiker’s Stairway
Devil’s Hall
 Photography Student in Devils Hall

After passing through Devil’s Hall a NPS sign simply reads “End of Trail.” A friend and I joked that we could make the end of the trail anywhere we wanted because the sign was simply leaning against the rocks. After resting a bit we scrambled up a steep wash that lead to the top of the south side of Devils Hall. From there we could see The Devils Gate and the large cliffs leading up to Guadalupe peak. We bushwhacked across the open bowl that formed the top of Devil’s Hall and rejoined the streambed just east of the Devil’s Gate.

The Devil’s Gate taken from on top of Devil’s Hall
 Looking East form on top of the Devil’s Hall. Devil’s Gate can be seen in the lower left corner. The lower reaches of Guadalupe peak can be seen in the background.

The bushwhacking proved rather difficult due to the native Agave plants, prickly pears, Cholla and numerous other thorny plants that grow at the lower altitudes. All together we spent about 4 hours hiking the 4.2 (2.1 miles one way) miles round trip, stopping for lunch halfway.

 Agave Plants where very numerous once you left the trail

Resources:
I use both the Map and Guide book featured below when planning my many trips to the Guadalupe Mountains. I highly recommend them to anyone wishing to hike there. Purchase them through these links and help support MyLifeOutdoors.





Comments:

  • Jeb

    March 29, 2010

    We did that hike 2 weeks ago. It was really nice. we didn't quite make it to the end since we had our 7 year old and 3 year year old in tow.

  • Anonymous

    April 7, 2010

    Sounds fantastic, thanks for the info!

  • Dobbs

    April 7, 2010

    That looks like quite a nice trail to check out. I will have to get back over to the park to hike it sometime.

  • That random Ghost girl

    May 4, 2013
  • Elaine

    April 16, 2014

    Impressive! Thanks!

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