Historic stone cabin nestled within a scenic canyon landscape, preserving the legacy of early ranching life amid towering cliffs and diverse woodland habitats.
Visitors must exit before the daily gate closure
Daylight hiking only
Individual Entrance Pass (7 days): $5
Children age 15 and under: Free
America the Beautiful Pass accepted
How to Get There
From Carlsbad, NM (35 mi): Take US-62/180 south toward Guadalupe Mountains National Park, turn onto the McKittrick Canyon access road, continue to the McKittrick Canyon Trailhead, and follow the canyon trail approximately 2.4 miles to reach Pratt Cabin.
Overview
The Pratt Cabin sits about 2.4 miles up the McKittrick Canyon Trail, a stone-and-wood retreat built in the early 1930s by geologist Wallace Pratt as a family getaway. Pratt's love of the canyon helped drive the effort to protect it, and he later donated the land that became the core of Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The trail there passes through one of the most biologically diverse stretches of the Chihuahuan Desert — maples, oaks, and walnuts that put on a vivid show of fall color — and historic photos and displays at the cabin tell Pratt's story.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia articles and official tourism pages for the https://www.nps.gov/gumo/planyourvisit/mckittrick-canyon.htm, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.