Pros: Beautiful and natural landscape..view native plants and watch the sunset…read more Cons: Many state parks and businesses close early. The park office closes early and you won't be able to stamp your travel book etc.

First tip - bring sunglasses. Serious sunglasses. Like the kind you wear after your pupils get…read moredilated at the eye doctor. The sand reflects the sun and makes everything brighter Second - heed the heat warnings. We visited on an 85 degree day. But out on the sand dunes it is hotter. There is no shade. And the white sand reflects the heat making it 10-15 degrees hotter. We actually saw a man being rescued off the Dune Life Nature Trail with heat stroke. This is only a 1 mile loop trail. That being said - this is a pretty quick visit. We drove the 16 mile scenic loop. (Any car can make the drive). Stopped quite a few time for photos. Stopped to climb the dunes. And took a walk down the Playa trail. I think we were in and out in about 2 hours. We wanted to take the Nature Life trail - but didn't want to interfere with the emergency vehicles. And the boardwalk is currently closed. If we had done one of those - that would have added an hour. But White Sands is truly an extraordinary sight. From about 10-15 miles away - you can see the white sand dunes in the distance. As you drive into the park, you see scrappy green and brown vegetation growing out of the gypsum sand and you wonder how but about 4 miles in, most of the vegetation just disappeared and you just see miles of white sand. It's crazy. It's a quick visit, but definitely a visit worth making.

This review is for Pine Tree Trail which was a ~4.2 miles round trip that took ~2.5 hours to…read morecomplete. Pine Tree Trail was located 45 minutes away from White Sands National Park. This was on the way back to Las Cruces which was a good stop for a second hike. This hike was done counterclockwise; trail was a narrow path of dirt and rock with plenty of inclines! Stunning views of the surrounding mountains and desert terrain! Short video of the hike for those interested! https://youtu.be/9wHTPd_FhNo

I came here on a whim to explore the mountains close up. This is a fee area of $5 per car, but if…read moreyou have an annual National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass it's a participating site. You can either show the person in the visitor center to get a receipt or display it in your car on the dash or hangtag. The person in the visitor center was helpful. The park closes at sunset (with the chance of fees if you don't leave by then) and so there's a whiteboard with the exact time you need to leave. There are a bunch of trail maps and the maps that prohibit dogs are also clearly marked. The worker recommended the La Cueva trail as there wasn't enough time for us to do the trail originally planned and gave us the back story behind it. He seemed very knowledgeable! There are gorgeous views and the trails seemed well maintained with gravel/dirt.

So I spent part of the week here exploring and I really enjoyed my time here. It is the smaller…read moreNational Park in Texas on about 85,000 acres (compared to Big Bend National Park which is 800,000 acres) but still plenty to explore. This park is more for folks that really like to hike, explore and camp. There are a few entry points into the park but there really is no scenic routes through the park. You are expected to park somewhere and walk to your destination instead which I find very interesting to do (can see alot more too). I've visiting the frijole ranch that had a small museum inside explaining the history of the park. Attach to it there are a few trails you can take off to do. I did the smith springs and it was very pretty to see. Once you manage to get up the hill there were some seats and rails you can hang onto and relax while watching the spring. I also did the Guadalupe Mountain Peak trail, which is the highest peak in Texas. That one takes about 6 to 8 hours to hike (round trip) and it had amazing views. There was also a mark at the to there you can take a picture too which was cool. Definitely need to be prepped to do this or any of the hikes (water, food, first aid, hiking stick and good hiking boots). The Salt Basin Dunes were also really nice to explore but expect to do half a day here. That one you drive over dirt road to get to but very nice views of the mountain. It also had a place you can use the restroom and sit down to eat. The place is exactly what you expect...alot of sand hills you can climb but very soft and cooling (just watch your step). I didn't get to explore all the park since there was a government shut down and closed one of the trails I wanted to do but overall It was definitely worth the trip to visit. I plan to come back next year when it's not too hot (best time for fall colors and cool air for tough hikes). I would absolutely recommend anyone to at least check this park out at least once in your life. Make sure do your research and bring what you need.

My husband and I visited in December 2025 and decided to climb Guadalupe Peak. It was amazing…read more The trail was maintained. A search and rescue ranger was walking the trail to keep a count of the hikers, which made me feel safe. I was so stoked that we were able to summit. We went to the ranger station afterwards to buy souvenirs and share our achievements. The rangers just looked deadpan at us after sharing our news. It left me disheartened. They could have pretended to care about our little victory. Would have liked to hike Devils Hall, but we were beat after the peak.

Neat lil museum of Billy the kid. You can get a free map of local things to see including smokey…read morethe bear burial site and museum. Friendly and helpful staff, definitely stop on in for helpful info about the town

We stopped before driving the Byway, lots of pamphlets and things to do in the area. There's a map…read morethat you can actually walk inside of the byway itself, so you can get a sense of where you're going. We got there shortly before they opened, so checked out the park across the parking lot with the horses - really nice! The woman at the counter was nice, and very helpful. She was able to answer many of our questions. We drove the byway in about 2 hours with a couple of stops, and very much enjoyed the scenery, the Smokey the Bear monument etc... I would highly recommend both the visitor center and the drive!

Beautiful area with large, level sites. Lots of hiking…read more FYI-the Visitor Center is temporarily closed for construction, as are restrooms, though there are very clean portables. Four miles away is a Slot Canyon that can be hiked. Don't expect to see any water, the campsites are on a bluff away from any water and the day use areas are closed for construction too.

Great place to bbq and go swimming in the river. Fees are nominal. Be careful with rip currents…read morewhen the river is full.

Beautiful, quiet park with clean camping facilities. Has restrooms and showers. Great sleeping in…read morethe Chihuahua desert. Close proximity to White Sands and Los Alamos. There is the Dog Canyon trail, which is worth the trek. We didn't make it all the way through due to timing, but will definitely be back to finish.

Quiet and spacious campground for star gazing and close to White Sands NP. We would definitely stay…read morehere again. Friendly camp hosts. They also have sleds to borrow at the camp host station for sledding the dunes at White Sands.

This certainly isn't for everyone, but if you like outdoors and hiking, check this out. Certainly…read moregrab a bottle of water and the sunscreen. The views of the surrounding areas at the top of the hills is impressive. BTW, shout out to the worker who suggested we stop at The Owl in San Antonio, NM. Thank you!

I really had high expectations for this place. I've always wanted to see petroglyphs so talked my…read morehusband into going. First, there's no signs showing you where you should be looking. It was at a rv camping site. No visible parking spots only a big dirt lot (I guess that's what you could call it) there was a picnic table and a bathroom. We just ended up parking in front of some bushes. Got out of the car and looked around. Saw a little sign and a path so figured that was it. Can't remember how long I walked but I think it was a big loop. I saw no petroglyphs at all, just a bunch of rocks and dirt. A few signs here and there telling about what's in that spot but didn't see a thing. It was a big disappointment. If there are truly petroglyphs there they need some kind of signs telling you where to go.

The scenic Drive overlook is really nice! You can see El Paso and Juarez, Mexico all from one view…read more There's a few different stopping points so be sure to go all the way to the top to take the iconic picture on the rocks.

It was spectacular during the day. I am sure that the view is standing at night with the lights of…read moreEl Paso.

This by far was the highlight of our trip!!! We decided to go on a roadtrip to Roswell and stopped…read morein Alamogordo on the way. My son is into everything space right now and we figured he would like the museum. He loved everything about this place. All the rockets and history was all he could talk about even days after we left. The museum is a lot bigger than expected and the staff was amazing. This is a must do if you're ever in the area!!

The educational facility has a very bad first impression,…read moreThey misspelled receipt on the admission tickets. Over priced gift shop . A long walk to theatre. Handicap taking is available there.

What a great park in El Paso. There's a visitor center to learn about the history of the park (it…read moreused to be part of Mexico at times!) and about the relationship between Mexico and the United States. Very good information in the museum inside. There's also large, clean restrooms, a small gift shop, and a theater which was closed when we went. The NPS park ranger was very informative and there was a bunch of pamphlets about the other sites. The actual park itself is pretty large. The ranger explained that they're trying to get back to normal operations post-COVID and so they're working on watering the grass so it's less brown. They also said that they're planning on reopening the theater and such as well. Overall, this is a neat place to visit and a great place to hang out!

In El Paso? Need a spot to ponder international law, American expansionism, the principles of…read morefairness, the rule of law, politics, and the border? Or just a place to take a walk, read a book, or have a cookout? Yes. Interesting and modest exhibits. Really clean bathrooms in the visitor center. No entrance fee. It was a tiny bit of Mexico. Now it isn't. But we gave most of it back.