Our National Park Quest for 2021 kicked into high gear with a weeklong trip to the Southwest in late May around Memorial Day. The original plan for this trip centered on flying into El Paso and road-tripping from there in a loop that would include three National Parks with ample sightseeing time in each. Our first stop: Guadalupe Mountains National Park, park #38 for me.
With any trip of this sort, you’ve got to be prepared to roll with the punches and be flexible. That became especially necessary when a wildfire closed the vast majority of Guadalupe Mountains National Park in the days before our arrival. Mom and I had intended to spend a couple of days sightseeing in the park, including a hike together into McKittrick Canyon, but that whole section of the park was closed. The Pine Springs Visitor Center was open, along with a few of the trails nearby. Mom opted to check out the Pinery nature trail near the visitor center and let me tackle the 4.2 mile, moderate Devil’s Hall Trail on my own. I appreciate her patience!
It’s an out-and-back trail with some great views of the mountains along the way. The first half of the trail is fairly easy, while the second half follows along a rocky riverbed wash and involves scrambling around, over, and through boulders. The posted signage literally says “Devil’s Hall Follows Wash,” and leaves you to find your own path through the rocks. These are a couple of photos taken in the wash, and you can tell there isn’t much of a trail to follow.
The “wash” 
The “trail”
Near the end of the trail, you arrive at the Hiker’s Staircase, an imposing set of stone steps that must be climbed to reach the final destination. I was told many people mistake it for the end of the trail and turn around at this point. The staircase was the most precarious part of the trail because the steps were slick even though it was perfectly dry day, but I felt accomplished to make it to the top. I also appreciated the advice of the park ranger who had shared “there’s no shame in sitting to go down the stairs”!
Hiker’s Staircase 
Close-up of Hiker’s Staircase
Just a short distance past the staircase, you arrive at the trail’s final destination: the Devil’s Hall. It is a narrow passage between two high rock walls. There were very few others on the trail, so I had the staircase and hall to myself — probably because it was a rather warm day. Fortunately, I took plenty of water to stay hydrated. It also helped that a few clouds and breeze came along to make the return hike more pleasant!
Devil’s Hall 
Devil’s Hall (the other direction)
The 4.2 mile desert hike took me a little over 3 hours, and it was a great opportunity to challenge myself a bit more than my usual hiking trails. If you don’t mind rock scrambling for roughly half the trail, the scenery will make it worth your time! There are also some nice views along the first part of the trail if you prefer to skip the “wash” section.
With most of the park closed, our visit only lasted about half a day, but hiking such a cool trail still made it a fulfilling stop. I’ll add this one to the growing list of parks that I’d like to re-visit in the future to see more completely.
Our next stop was just a short distance up the road at Carlsbad Caverns National Park to catch the evening “Bat Flight” before calling it a day. More on Carlsbad in my next post!