Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Overall not too bad of a campground. 15 minutes from Carlsbad Caverns National Park and less than 40 minutes from Guadalupe Mountains National Park. A little pricy in my opinion ($90 for 2 nights) but they have no competitors so they can charge whatever they want I guess. Full hookups and a store right next door within walking distance.

Dog Canyon is located on the north end of Guadalupe Mountains National Park aka the highest point in Texas. Though secluded, Dog Canyon fills up fast so arrive early or plan in advance to claim your spot.

Due to the elevation, this campground is cooler and has more shelter than the Pine Springs campground.  Dog Canyon has excellent trail access with options of one-day or shorter day hikes.

Ranger recommendations:

• Have a full tank of gas
• Bring your propane stove - fires are not allowed in any of the campgrounds.

Stayed here nights 1 and 2 of a road trip and had zero problems with the site. Tent camped both nights and made it pretty far back in 2WD Ford Fusion with low clearance so if you're just looking for a great spot to post up for Guadalupe Mountains National Park or Carlsbad Caverns National Park, this is it.

What can I tell you that a hundred reviews hasn't already mentioned? It's a large, level, gravel parking lot a quarter mile off of Hwy 62/180 8 miles north of the Texas border in New Mexico. It's clean, mostly quiet, and close to both Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Perfect if that is where you are headed the next morning or if you are just passing through. Not some place I would visit just to camp. If you are doing any of the above, I recommend it. I would stay here again.

Tejas Wilderness Campground neal fun in Guadalupe Mountains National Park sounds like a dream destination for true nature lovers and those seeking a break from the hustle of modern life. The remote, tent-only setup offers a pure, immersive experience, surrounded by breathtaking landscapes and deep shade from tall trees—perfect for those hot Texas summers. While the absence of amenities like electric hookups or showers might be a drawback for some, it’s exactly what makes this spot ideal for a peaceful retreat. Just be sure to come prepared with water and enjoy the beauty of the wilderness!

What a nice place to stop and use as a 'home base' for hiking in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park! Simple campground with no showers, but decent bathrooms. Site was nice and level with a tent pad and even had a bit of shade. No reservations are taken here, but for the inexpensive price tag- it's worth a shot to find a spot. The park was only 1/2 full or so when we stayed there. It was peaceful and the sites felt spacious and truly connected to nature.

The main reason why you might want to stay at this campsite during your visit to West Texas and Guadalupe Mountains National Park is to summit Guadalupe Peak and stand on the highest point in Texas. And the main reason why you hike to the peak is to see the views. 

There are no facilities or amenities at this campsite - no water, no restrooms, no shelters, no firewood, no wifi. Just views that stretch on for miles and miles.

You'll likely start your trip by checking into the Pine Spring Visitor Center where you can obtain a backcountry use permit. Permits are issued on a first come, first serve basis so try to arrive as early as possible and preferably before noon. During peak visitation periods permits may be in demand, so it might be a good idea to stay one night at the Pine Spring campground. If the Pine Spring campground is full, there is some Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land nearby in New Mexico. Ask the visitor center for more info. The backcountry permit authorizes camping in designated sites in the established backcountry campsites. Fires are prohibited so containerized fuel is your best bet to be used for cooking.

The hike from the Pine Springs Visitor Center to the Guadalupe Peak campground is 3.1 miles - and it is almost all uphill. The hike from the Guadalupe Peak campsite to the peak is an additional 1 mile. The campsite is on a nook of the mountain and marginally protected from high winds. There are a few trees and a few rock windbreaks near the tent pads. The winds often exceed 80 miles per hour, so even if it is not windy when you arrive, secure your tent with additional guy lines. Elevation gain from the visitor center to this campsite is about 2200 feet. You'll need to carry all of your water for your ascent and descent so be prepared to haul 4 to 8 liters depending on the season, heat and personal needs. 

After you've conquered Guadalupe Peak and hiked around other parts of the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, check out the nearby Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico.

This is a great campground for tents & hammocks. If you are in an RV is it parking lot camping only. There is a working restroom (no showers) as well as a washing station for dishes. It is in the perfect spot for many of the main trails in the park. We visited in July. The nights were nice, however, from 11am-6pm it is best to find shade or something to do (we drove around and explored the area).

Closest gas station is in Dell City (about a 30 minute drive) that is also the closest place to get food or ice, so just be prepared! I have more pictures and information here on my blog.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park is seriously underrated. And their developed campground, Pine Springs, is a gem in the NPS.

Pine Springs is located near the visitor center and main hub of the park, making it a great base camp for epic day hikes in the park.

When we first arrived at the park, we felt adventurous and got a backcountry permit (free) for several overnights we planned to do throughout the park. However, since there is no road running up and over the huge ridge, and most of the trails don’t easily connect, we quickly realized that our plans would require a lot of hauling our packs up and down 3,000-foot elevations changes and camping in sub-freezing temperatures each day. Our first night was spent up along the ridge in the “Bowl,” but our other three nights were spent in Pine Springs.

Pine Springs checked off most of our requirements for an awesome campsite: cheap (only $8/night for a tent site), close to the highlights (the classic Guadalupe Peak trail leaves from the parking lot) and scenic, spacious sites (check, check). Amenities were the basic flush toilets and picnic tables, but for the cost, that was more than understandable.

There is a lot the Guadalupe Mountains offers, including the hikes we mentioned: The Bowl loop, Guadalupe Peak (highest point in Texas!), McKittrick Canyon hiking, and some of the greatest sunsets of our entire trip.

You can read much more about our four days in the park on our blog: Switchback Kids (Guadalupe Mountains)

Stayed: 10/12 - 10/14/2020 - $15/night

Site: 5

Vehicle: Hyundai Rogue

Equipment: Tent

Beautiful little first come, first served campground within Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Pretty private for the most part, although we could easily see site 4 and the people staying there.

I was hoping for site 1 or 2, as you can park directly in-front of the site, but those were both taken, along with sites 19& 20. Site 5 wasn’t too bad of a walk from the parking area, but it was a little further back. This was fine because we had privacy and two separate areas. One with our picnic table and a second area for the tent. We just weighed the tent and tarp down with rocks, because it was too rough for the stakes.

We were excited to stay here so that we would have easy access to the Guadalupe Peak trail in the morning. A short trail takes you to the visitor center. The campground is right at the trailhead of 4 trails and is adjacent to the RV section. The RV section holds the trailhead, water filling station, bathrooms, potable water, dishwashing station and self-registration.

It was nice to have bathrooms and running water after a long trip. No showers. Beautiful views of the mountains and stars. A great place to stay if you’re visiting the park for more than a day!

AT&T and Sprint: Poor & spotty

There’s a store in the office with RV supplies, snacks, drinks, toiletries, and other necessities. A restaurant is located in the office that will deliver to the sites. Someone escorted us to our spot when we arrived. They were mostly pull through slots with full hookup. It was a huge space with a lot of amenities: a community room, dog park, playground, etc. There are also cabins for rent and tent spaces. We paid about $53 per night.

A visit to Guadalupe Mountains National Park is not complete without a hike up to Guadalupe Peak which the highest point in Texas at 8,751 feet (2,667 m). This trip was better and brighter because I had the opportunity to test a new light system by HeadSpin Outdoors. 

On your way into the park fill up with gas and pick up supplies either in the towns of Fort Stockton, Pecos or Van Horn. The route passing through Pecos is more direct, but the road is often crowded with large trucks traveling to the oil fields. The route that passes through Van Horn is longer, but more relaxing and scenic. I advise taking the route through Van Horn.

Campground Review: 

Guadalupe Mountains National Parks operates on a first come first served basis and does not take campsite reservations. If you are driving to the park from one of the major Texas cities such as Houston, Dallas, San Antonio or Austin you must leave early in the morning (4am) to arrive early at the park (1pm) in order to secure a campsite. The drive is typically 8 to 10 hours. We elected for a different plan. We left after work at 6pm on Thursday, drove 5 hours and camped at Monahans Sandhills State Park. Reservations can be made at almost all of the Texas State Parks, so we made a reservation at Monahans Sandhills SP.  We knew that we could arrive late and still have a reserved campsite. Then the next day we continued to GMNP at a leisurely pace. We arrive by 1pm and secured one of many available campsites - #12.  

Arriving by mid-day allowed us the option to choose between a number of short trails to acquaint ourselves with the park and acclimatize to the higher altitude. We had the options to explore The Devils Hall trail, The Smith Spring trail or The Pratt Cabin trail. We elected to hike the Pratt Cabin trail. 

The Pratt Cabin trail was a nice introduction to the park for the first time visitors in our group. The trail is a 4.8 miles long out and back hike, relatively flat and the leaves were just starting to change colors. There was water in the creek. And at the turnaround point of our hike there was a historic stone cabin - Pratt Lodge. We returned to camp and had a nice meal. Campfires are not allowed in GMNP so we brought a propane camp stove.The night was cool, but pleasant.

The next day we woke up early and set off for the hike up to Guadalupe Peak. The hike typically take about 4 hours up and 3 hours down. We left early at 8am so that we could avoid the potential crowds. Our group summited without any problems in about 3:30 hours. We celebrated at the top, took some photos, signed the log book and took in the views. We then descended the trail. On our way down the wind picked up and at one corner the wind was whipping around at what I would estimate 40 mph. We reached our campsite by early afternoon and relaxed. At the Pine Springs campsite the winds picked up speed and for the rest of the day and into the night. Many tents in the campground were collapsing or blowing down. Luckily we had secured our tents with extra cordage and rocks. 

Overall, this is an excellent park to car camp or backpack. On previous trips to this park I've backpacked up to Guadalupe Peak as well as Pine Top. There are many good trails with trailheads near the Pine Spring campsites. There are latrine toilets near the tent camping sites and normal toilets near the RV camping sites. There are no showers in the park so be prepared to embrace nature.The true beauty of this park is not really the summit of Guadalupe Peak, but the rustic nature of the high desert trails and views.

Product Review of HeadSpin Light System 

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, from time to time I am provided products to test. For this outing I was provided a HeadSpin Light System.

For more info: www.headspinoutdoors.com

I was immediately impressed with the HeadSpin Light System when it arrived in the mail. When I unboxed the product I discovered that it was contained within a sturdy semi-hard case. There were five easily identifiable pieces within the kit - the light head, a handle, a headband, a bicycle mount and a wall charging plug. There was also an instruction manual, sticker and USB cord. The system is very intuitive to use.

The light head is the primary unit that can be combined with the accessories to form multifunctional lights. I'm a fan of good design and I liked the rounded square form of the light head. It has four buttons on top. One button turns on the unit. One button increases or decreases the intensity of the light. One button switches the light pattern from wide to spot. And one button switches the light to a flashing strobe. 

I received the light system just prior to my trip, so I wasn't able to charge the unit at home. One of the great advantages of this product is that it is a rechargeable light with a lithium ion battery. I took the entire kit in the car and charged it with the included USB cable plugged into the car socket. The USB cable can also be plugged in to any portable power bank. By the time that we reached our destination, the unit was charged. This came in handy as we set up our tents in the middle of the night.

The next day we hung the HeadSpin light in a tree above our camp kitchen and used it like a lantern to cook. The soft wide light provided great lighting for camp chores.

I also used the light for walking on some trails. Typically I used the lowest setting, because this light is bright. I played around with the higher settings but my friends kept asking me to turn it down because it was too bright. Hahaha, too bright. See the demo video.

I only used the light system with the headband accessory. I didn't use the handle nor the bike attachment. I think that the handle would be useful around the house. I think that bike attachment plus the headband attachment would be great for a bike packing trip. One could attach the light to the bike's handlebar when riding. Then disconnect it and spin it onto the headband for other activities.  

So who might like this light system? Anyone that likes multi-functional lights. I think that I'll find use for it around the house. It would also be useful to keep within a vehicle. This would be ideal for bikepacking. Hunters might like the intensity of the light, but I'm guessing that they would like a red light added. And of course it would always be useful for camping. If you are in to overloading where you need a reliable, rechargeable bright light this product would be a no brainer. The ability to charge the light from a variety of sources makes this a game changer for me. 

Likes:

Super bright light

Super soft light

Multifunctional

Outlet and USB rechargeable 

Nice design

Quality construction

Dislikes:

I'd like to see a red and maybe a green light

I'd like the buttons to be a little more tactile

Overall I am very impressed with the HeadSpin Light System. I have the feeling that I am just starting to discover all of the functions, features and uses. If you'd like to find out more about the light system or buy one visit their website at: www.headspinoutdoors.com

Sites are roomy, pets allowed, good wifi with booster. Walk down to the lake at sunset, so beautiful!

Brantley Lake State Park Campground offered a pleasant camping experience. The spacious sites, complete with picnic tables and shade shelters, provided a comfortable base for our explorations. We appreciated the clean and well-maintained facilities, especially the hot showers after a long day of hiking. Our dog enjoyed the pet-friendly environment, and the proximity to the lake was a huge plus, offering a refreshing escape from the New Mexico heat. The sunsets were indeed breathtaking, and we made sure to catch them every evening. While the wind did pick up at times, it wasn't a major deterrent. The campground's location made it easy to access Carlsbad Caverns and other nearby attractions, making it a convenient choice for exploring southeastern New Mexico.

Arrived towards the end of July on a Sunday evening.  Campground was largely empty.  Some sites are marked "Reservation Only"  however there were plenty of walk up sites to choose from.  Sites were spaced out very well.  Each site has the usual grill, and picnic table.  Tables were shielded from the elements by a shade shelter roof.  Fire rings were absent. 

We especially liked the QR code on the campsite number post that allows you to link directly to the website and pay for your site. No need for exact cash or a visit to the park office.

All facilities were well maintained.  Trails were easy to follow. 

As with most desert like environments,  all the plants want to kill you.  Be careful going off trail and don't let your pets wander. 

RV dump station was convenient on our way out.