Trails in Texas
There are 3 National Park Service units that include territory in Texas. The directory below links to every park guide we maintain for the state. For multi-state parks, you'll see the same entry on each state's page — the trail catalog itself is identical.
Trip planning from Texas typically means balancing drive time against trail effort. A weekend out of state can be more efficient than a one-day push to a closer unit if it means daylight on the actual trail rather than behind the wheel. Use the per-park guides to compare difficulty and seasonality before locking in dates.
Big Bend National Park
Vast Chihuahuan Desert wilderness along a deep U-bend of the Rio Grande, capped by the cool, forested Chisos Mountains rising over 7,000 feet.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Texas' four highest peaks rise out of the Chihuahuan Desert, including 8,751-foot Guadalupe Peak — a fossilized Permian reef exposed by uplift.
Padre Island National Seashore
Longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world — 70 miles of Gulf coast dunes, prairie, and tidal flats.