Chimneys Trail

The Chimneys Trail is a desert walk with a destination dramatic enough to justify every dusty step. You'll set out from the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive trailhead across open Chihuahuan Desert scrub — creosote, lechuguilla, and ocotillo as far as you can see — with the volcanic chimneys visible almost immediately on the horizon, pulling you forward like a mirage that actually delivers. The terrain is mostly flat and gravelly with some rocky stretches, fully exposed to the sky. When you arrive at the base of the dark, jagged dikes rising abruptly from the desert floor, take a slow lap around them — the ancient pictographs painted on the rock face are easy to miss if you don't look. This trail rewards the curious: part geology lesson, part living history site, with a stark beauty that photographers and desert lovers will want to linger in.