Four National Parks in Texas-New Mexico
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Before this trip, I had never been to Texas or New Mexico. Initially, our plan was to visit only Big Bend National Park in southern Texas, near the border with Mexico. However, we stumbled upon a blog where the author mentioned that there are several other national parks not far from Big Bend. In fact, the area is home to four remarkable parks: Big Bend, Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns, and White Sands. Despite their proximity, these parks are incredibly distinct from one another. We thoroughly enjoyed exploring the unique natural beauty each had to offer. (The first picture here is from White Sands National Park!)
Let’s begin with the first day of our trip, November 16, 2024. Although it was already November, the southern U.S. was still pleasantly mild. We departed from Champaign at 6 AM and arrived at Midland Airport around 9:30 AM. After picking up a rental car, we headed to our first destination, Big Bend National Park. The drive took about five hours, including a stop at Walmart to stock up on essentials like food, water (a must), and firewood.
We arrived at the park in the afternoon and made our first stop at the fossil exhibit. The outdoor exhibition was well-maintained and offered a great introduction to the area. Next, we headed to the Window Trail, which we completed in about half an hour. From there, we spent two hours driving along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, soaking in the breathtaking views.
The scenic drive’s final stop was Santa Elena Canyon. We crossed the water and climbed along the Rio Grande for about an hour to take in the stunning view from the top. After descending, we encountered a herd of cattle on our way to our RV hotel, marking the end of an adventure-filled day.
I have to mention our RV hotel in Terlingua, which I believe falls under what’s called glamping. This was the main reason we needed to stock up on food and supplies at Walmart. It was also our first time building a campfire, and let me tell you—it was harder than it looked!
We had hoped to stargaze that night since Terlingua is located in one of the darkest sky areas in mainland USA. Unfortunately, we completely forgot to check the moon phase—it was nearly full that night! Despite this stargazing mishap, the night was warm, and we were more than satisfied after feasting on roasted steak and s’mores. It truly couldn’t have been a more perfect stay.
On November 17, 2024, the second day of our trip, we set out to visit two national parks: Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We began the morning with a stop at El Capitan in Guadalupe Mountains to take some photos of the iconic peak. Afterward, we drove to Carlsbad Caverns to make our reserved time slot for the self-guided tour.
As we drove, we barely noticed how much altitude we had gained until we found ourselves at the top of the mountain, wondering where the caves could possibly be. It soon became clear that the caves were deep beneath the mountain. From the parking area, we had the option to descend 750 feet via an elevator (or by walking).
Once inside, we were greeted by thousands upon thousands of breathtaking rock formations. The Grand Room, a vast underground chamber, was anything but empty—every inch was adorned with stalagmites and stalactites, creating an otherworldly landscape. This incredible place instantly became the most beautiful cave I’ve ever visited.
Around 3 PM, we headed back to Guadalupe to complete our mission: conquering one of its trails. The trail we chose—Devil’s Hall—was the only one we had time for. Based on Reddit reviews, we learned that the hike typically takes 2 to 3 hours to complete. Feeling optimistic, we assumed we’d be closer to the 2-hour mark.
However, the trail turned out to be more challenging than expected, especially in the second half, where we found ourselves navigating a rocky wash. Climbing over rocks made the trek slow and demanding, and we ultimately took the full 3 hours, reaching the parking lot just as it got dark.
Despite the tough terrain, the trail was absolutely stunning, surrounded by vibrant foliage. We were incredibly lucky to catch it at its peak!
On November 18, we left our stay in El Paso and drove to the final destination of our trip, White Sands National Park. Located just an hour and a half from El Paso, it’s a perfect getaway for those in the area. For anyone planning to visit, be sure to check for missile tests on your chosen day. There was one scheduled on the morning of our visit, but fortunately, it didn’t affect us since it was completed early.
We arrived at the park around 9 AM, just as it opened. With minimal expectations, we were absolutely blown away by its beauty and otherworldly atmosphere. What made the sand dunes especially striking (to us) was how they were surrounded 360 degrees by the stunning southern mountain ranges. We had an incredible time exploring White Sands before heading back home to Illinois, marking a perfect end to our trip.
After we found out that there are some flights from Willard (a regional airport in Champaign) that are inexpensive, we started flying out from here instaead of Chicago. We got a really good price of plane tickets to Seattle, so we decided to go to more national parks! The two parks that we visited were Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks. We thought about going to North Cascade as well, but the time was limited so we planned to visit there next time. Visiting these two popular national parks in the fall was such a good choice–less crowd, nice weather, and fall foliage!
Midwest surprisingly offers us many national parks to visit all year round. One of the national parks near Illinois is the Mammoth Cave National Park in Cave City, Kentucky. We rented a car from Champaign and drove around 5 hours, excluding small stops in Indiana. We had never been to Kentucky before, and we believe that not many international students had been there. Plus, this was the first time we visited a cave in the US, and we start with the world’s longest known cave system!
We’d been thinking of visiting South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and Badlands national park for almost a year. Then an opportunity came when one of our friends gave us a buy-one-get-one-free coupon from Delta. We did not hestitate even a bit in buying two tickets for a round trip from Chicago to Rapid City, SD. Although it was an impulsive trip, we had a lot of fun observing the wildlife in the great plains of South Dakota and North Dakota.
Although Poy graduated from the Scripps-Oxford joint Ph.D. program in Biochemistry for half a year and already started working at UIUC as a post-doctoral researcher, his graduation ceremony was held way later in May 2024. His family also came from Thailand to attend his graduation ceremony in San Diego. We then spent over a week afterward traveling around the west coast, including California, Arizona, and Nevada. It was my first time (and his family’s first time) doing a road trip in the west coast. We enjoyed a huge variety of natural wonders that the west coast has to offer.