Blue Ridge Trail

Blue Ridge Trail is a connector route that links the Tejas and Bush Mountain trails high in the Guadalupe backcountry, and it earns every bit of its moderate rating on the steep pitches climbing toward the ridge crest. This two-mile stretch cuts through dense conifer forest — a surprise to anyone who thinks West Texas is all desert — with ponderosa pine and Douglas fir shading much of the route. The trail narrows in places where it traverses rocky slopes, and the footing demands attention as loose limestone gives way underfoot. Once you gain the ridge, though, the canopy opens to sweeping views of the Chihuahuan Desert spreading out below like a rumpled brown quilt. This is a trail for backpackers linking bigger objectives and for day hikers who want to feel genuinely remote without committing to a full-day death march.