Davis Mountains State Park

A beautiful 65 degree sunny day which started out at 35 degrees. Beautiful scenery abounds on this hike. At this time the creek was not flowing so it was easy to cross. The trail is rocky and sturdy hiking shoes are reccommended. The Trail ascends 700' to the 4 mile loop which is fairly level with minor ups and downs. If you turn left at the intersection with the loop there is little to no shade for a couple of miles. If possible this could be done before the temperature rises. I took a 3 liter camelbak and drank half as the temp was very pleasant. 

The morning was cool and low clouds.  We hiked as a group of 8 as we ascended the Montezuma Quail Trail from the campground area. This was a steep climb or descent depending on which way you are hiking. This would be the only challenging part of the hike as the indian Lodge Trail is more flowing with ups and downs. The are views that shouldn't be missed. And the vegetation some of which is unique only to the Davis Mtns. and the Big Bend area. 

Route    Indian Lodge > park road > Quail Trail > Indian Lodge Trail > Indian Lodge (Black Bear Restaurant)

First, don't follow my exact route!!!  I recommend you do this trail in reverse, i.e., start behind the Black Bear restaurant to the Indian Lodge Trail and follow it to the junction of Quail Trail then head down hill to the park road and walk back to the Lodge.

My way got me lost!  Finding the Quail trailhead was easy and the trail is very easy to see.  You go up hill the vast majority of time until you locate the junction of the two trails.  At that point, I followed either an older Indian Lodge Trail or, more likely, an animal trail.  I was able to eventually blaze my own trail and connect to the Indian Lodge Trail but along the way, I had to do some serious rock climbing on the edges of some very narrow trails.  Additionally, there were warnings of mountain lions and parts of the trail I was on, smelly strongly of C-A-T !  No cat was observed and it had rained the night before so it's possible an old scent was re-activated.

Nonetheless, the hike was enjoyable and I'm only sorry I didn't have the opportunity to do more hiking. 

This trail starts out at the Interpretive Center then eventually loops around and ends at the group picnic area. If you use the park's map, be aware that they have South up, rather than North up, as most maps do. Also it is not entirely accurate, sometimes showing the trail on the wrong side of Skyline Drive. But watch for the signs and you should be OK.

This trail starts out on fairly level ground at 5000 ft., but once you pass the amphitheater you start climbing through a series of switchbacks until you reach the top at 5500 ft.

There is a nice intermittent stream near the amphitheater, and great views into the distance from the top, from which you can see the McDonald Observatory to the Northwest and a large greenhouse operation far to the South.

The terrain is mostly open, but there are several shady spots where you can stop for a water break or a snack.

After reaching the top and going East along the spine of the mountain, you will reach the first scenic overlook at N30 35.507, W103 55.651, and the second scenic overlook at N30 35.757, W103 55.359. These have very nice views in all directions.

After about another .7 mile you will reach the restrooms at N30 35.865, W103 54.803. This is the only place along any of the trails that drinking water is available.

A short distance past the restrooms the trail crosses over the road (watch for the sign across the road!) and then continues along a cliff along the South side of the mountain with great views and a neat rock face until you reach a pass cut through the mountaintop at N30 36.001, W103 54.328. From there you have a decision to make: Go right and the trail will lead to the boundary of Ft. Davis National Historic site with it's scenic overlook and series of trails, or go left, and begin the descent back toward the state park campgrounds.  We went right and enjoyed the national park trail, then turned around and returned by this route to our car.

The trail down to the campground follows an old double-track Jeep road for a while, but then the road veers right and goes down to a gate at the junction with Hwy. 118, so you will want to veer left and continue to follow the trail, as you are still ~1 mile from the Interpretive Center. This section of the trail has some ups and downs, but was easily traversed, even by people with young children.

We spent about 6 hours on this trail, but that was because we stopped to take many pictures, examine flowers and rock faces, and took a snack break as well. Most adults could probably do it in 4 or less, but as they say, why not stop and smell the roses? (Or in this case, the cactus blooms!)

This is a very nice trail and is well worth the effort!

Mrhinman did a good job of descibing this trail, so I won't repeat what he said. It does sound like he saw more wildlife than we did however, since we saw the hawk, but not much else.

The trail is not too steep, but does climb from ~5155 ft. to ~5650 ft. so it is a decent workout and there is no shade along the trail.

It was neat to see the observatory in the distance as well as the Very Long Baseline Array radio telescope dish, which was also moving while we were there.

After traversing the top of the mountain, this trail descends rather rapidly to intersect with the HQ Trail, but at this point we turned around and headed back to the lodge due to an approaching thunderstorm. (Didn't want to be on the exposed mountaintop with lightning around!)

My wife slipped on some loose rocks on the way down and landed in a cactus, but we still enjoyed the hike very much!