El Paso/West Texas vacation to coincide with UTEP

Iconoclast Texan

Iconoclast Texan

250+ Posts
I have always wanted to go to El Paso. I have no idea why really, I guess I am fascinated by the place since it is so far away yet still in Texas and by the fact that is in a different time zone.

I really fell in love with the natural West Texas beauty that I saw in No Country for Old Men. I have never been west of Laredo so I was thinking of making a trip out to El Paso for the UTEP game this season and make a long weekend out of it.

What's the best place to stay in El Paso? What are the restaurants and things that are musts? What about side trips to see the countryside I saw in the movie? What would be a good itinerary?
 
wr'e going to the game this year and heading out a couple days early to climb guadalupe peak/el capitan and hit white sands. did that a few years ago. very easy hike/climb and was worth the trip. we camped up at the top but will likely hike up and down same day this time
 
I've always wanted to visit the UTEP campus; don't know if I will be able to make this time though.

The campus architectural theme is inspired by himalayan, buddhist monasteries. Apparently, when the wife of the dean received her April, 1914 issued of National Geographic, there was an article about monasteries in Bhutan and she became very interested in the style.
 
Carlsbad Caverns can be done in a day also from El Paso. I used to go to UTMB El Paso for about a year. Lived on the west side of town. There are plenty of places to go out. I would just ask around once you get there. Course we used to go to Juarez all the time. Don't know if you want to get that adventurous or not.

I usd to eat of some little mexican restaurant around the campus called El Rincon. Best fajitas I've ever had.
 
el capitan, no. you'd take the trail to the top of guadalupe peak then scramble down the other side to the top of el capitan, with no trail.

here is the route you take from the top of guadalupe peak:

elcapitan.jpg
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Yes, I realize that, but I wouldn't call El Cap an easy hike since it's off trail.
 
i guess i should have clarified that the hike up guadalupe peak is easy and that the second part to el capitan may not be easy for some folks. i guess i wouldnt take a little kid on that part. maybe i missed something
 
If El Cap is easy for any folks I'm all ears on that one. Where's the easy route?
 
we just made it up as we went, starting about 50 feet short of the peak as i recall

have you done it before? just curious about your perspective, not trying to be rude or anything
 
Not el cap; I've talked to some folks who did, a long time ago, and I seemed to recall there were spots coming back where they lost the route and had some difficulty. (My ancient topo map shows a trail.) I've done guad pk maybe half-dozen times, but no, no first hand knowledge of el cap.

My only concern is that I've seen lots of folks through the years get into situations they had no business being in because they thought something was easy. So when someone says an off-trail scramble in the desert is easy, a little flag goes up.
 
i understand, that's why i clarified that guadalupe peak is very easy but el capitan may not be for some. it was for me, but i've been up several 14k'ers. the biggest pain in the *** with guadaupe is having to pack all your own water
 
If your taking kids i definitely recommend Whites sands. Is very interesting and kids will have a blast and its only 1.5 hours north of El Paso. You can also stop at the space museum while in Alamogordo.

Inn of the moutain gods, in ruidoso, is another 45 minutes north of alamogordo. Its a very nice hotel with a casino and lake on site. Other than that, Ruidoso is a nice quint mountain town that actually is pretty boring if you dont like trout fishing or not in ski season.
If your a Sugarland fan, they will be performing at Inn of mountains gods on Sept 4th.
Inn of mountain gods website

Carlsbad caverns is pretty cool for the kiddos as well, but further out (~2.5 hours from El Paso).

If no kids or older kids the already mentioned Guadalupe NP is great (About 2 hours east). Every body has mentioned hiking the peaks, but if your looking for a less strenuous, but long, hike then try the Mckittrick canyon trail. Its especially nice in late summer/early fall.

Hueco tanks, which is only 30 minutes east of the airport is cool. It USED to be awesome when you were able to boulder the whole park. almost hte whole park now has guided tours. Now they only have 1 of the 4 'mountain' open to unguided bouldering. You can thank all the ******* idiots that would go 'tag' up the mountains for that.
Hueco tanks is a good short sight seeing expedition.

Unless your planning on taking the whole week before the game dont even consider Big Bend. You absolutely NEED at least 3-4 days to appreciate the park and it is very out of the way. This trip was discussed in a previous thread.

Going to Juarez used to be cool for out of towners before all the cartels starting warring with each other and with the police. THere have already been 250+ documented murders. So stay away. IF your a visitor INS at teh checkpoint are even bigger dicks than normal when coming back with the tighening of the border lately.
 
EPTHorn and others: thanks for your recommendations. The casino on the lake is my speed. My wife and I don't have kids and I like to gamble. How long of a drive is it from El Paso?
 
Inn of the mountain gods is about 2 hours from the EL Paso airport. There is little traffic on the 4 lane highway going up there do there very rarely are delays.
 
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