3 National Parks, 1 Weekend

If you're ever given the opportunity to visit 3 National Parks in one weekend.. DO IT. You'll be in for a fun and wild adventure. Ideally it is better to have more time to spend in each park, but when you're presented the opportunity you don't turn it down.

Memorial Day weekend of 2021, my husband and I set out to see 3 National Parks in approximately 4 days. We booked a flight, hotel, Airbnb, and a rental car and we were set. We flew from Atlanta, GA to El Paso, TX on a Friday, and did not get to our hotel for the night until around midnight. We went straight to bed and then was up at approximately 6:30 AM to drive our rental car to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We got to the visitor's center right at opening to secure a camping spot for the night. Back country camping was not available due to wildfires from a few days before our trip that had been started by lightning, so we had to grab the available options at front country. The spot we did secure however was breathtaking and was located right in front of a big, beautiful mountain. We went ahead and set up our tent, so no one else would take our spot, then we decided to hit the trails.

One thing about Andrew and I, is that we like to do research on the trails beforehand to decide which trails we will be hiking. During my research I found a trail that had a gap in the mountains you could walk through. According to the research, it was a really popular feature of the park, so we decided this was the trail for us. The name of the trail was the Devil's Hall Trail. Pictures from the trail are below. If you ever go and decide to hike this trail be aware that it is a tad strenuous and you will have many rocks and hurdles to climb over. Pack lots of water (and some snacks too), because it gets very hot in the summer months and the climbing will tire you. After our hike we had to go into the nearest town to purchase fuel for our camp stove since that is of course not allowed on a plane. Once we got back to Guadalupe we had worked up an appetite from our hike, so we prepped our stove so we could eat before it got dark, and also because a thunderstorm was heading our way. For dinner we had Mountain House Adventure Meals-Rice and Chicken, which was pretty good for camp food.

We got to see a beautiful sunset over the mountains from our camp site that night, and did some star gazing once it was completely dark. Even with the approaching storm, the sky was still clear enough for us to see a ton of stars. From our camp site we could also see some of the city lights of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Our camping experience that night was very eventful. Around 2 AM is when the storm hit and it rained so hard! Because the rain was pounding our tent, it was very loud and took us both a while to fall back asleep. Shoutout to our rain tarp for keeping us dry inside the tent. The next morning we got up early, packed up our things, and drove to our next stop: Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

It took us around 30 minutes to get to Carlsbad from Guadalupe. When visiting Carlsbad, it is beneficial to reserve your tickets into the cave online beforehand, because they only allow a certain number of people into the cave at one time. We did this and it saved us from having to wait in line to get tickets. When it is time for your tour a park ranger leads you to the natural entrance and goes over the rules for the cave, before letting you go on your own self-guided tour. Carlsbad was Andrew's favorite of the three we visited that weekend. The pictures below do not even begin to serve the park justice. It's much more grand and captivating in person. The hike itself was not very long, only 2 miles or so. Since the tour of Carlsbad did not take us very long, afterwards we made our way to the last National Park of our trip: White Sands National Park.

From Carlsbad it took us close to 3 hours to get to White Sands. White Sands has a few trails for hiking, but the more popular thing to do there is sand sledding. At the visitor's center we rented two sand sleds and purchased some wax. They recommend purchasing wax for the bottom of the boards to help them glide through the sand better. From our experience sand sledding was not easy and the wax did not seem to help us much. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun. White Sands made for some gorgeous pictures and was one of the more unique parks I've visited.

On our last night we stayed at one of the cutest Airbnb's I have ever stayed in. The Airbnb was a casita in San Miguel, New Mexico. The hosts were so kind, and the Airbnb was well equipped with everything we needed. In a way it was kind of like a tiny house. I loved it! The hosts even provided us with a binder of cute local restaurants and coffee shops to check out. The hottub at the casita was a very nice added bonus, and much appreciated after 2 days of hiking. When we woke up the next morning I did not want to have to leave to go home. All in all, this was one of the best trips I have ever been on thus far.

Tips I Recommend For a Trip Like This:

• Do research beforehand and come up with a rough draft itinerary.

• Try and book your rental car through the airport if possible.

• If you fly, plan to check your bag with your camping equipment in it. (Tent poles are considered a weapon).

• If you are a big fan of the National Parks and visit them often, get a National Park Pass through REI. This saved us money and comes in handy.