Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site

Write a Review915-857-1135

CLOSED NOW - Opens at 8:00am

You must be aware that reservations are practically required because the number of visitors to the park is seriously limited (even for hiking) For high-volume days, they expect you to make reservations as much as 3 months in advance.

We also had a serious issue with the customer service during our visit. We did not realize that reservations were recommended and when we called ahead they suggested that we would be able to get in easily. Upon arrival the argumentative rangers said we would have to wait for other people to leave the park before we could enter, and made it sound like it was our fault that we thought we could get in and said that we should have known to make reservations months in advance. They made no effort to track the cars going in and out and blamed us for not taking down the license plate numbers of cars leaving the park. After almost an hour of waiting they finally got around to checking the parked cars and realized that we could go in the park. In short, the service was anything but helpful and informative.

It is not a high volume park so the amenities, trail markings, etc. are mediocre.

Although I could be mistaken, it seemed that all the trails in the park are short and you can complete them all in about 3 hours.

On the plus side, this site does feature some cool rock formations and some exceptional ancient pictographs. If you're into rock climbing, the volcanic rock formations make for plenty of easier and some more challenging climbs within a short walk.

If you want some good climbs or see pictographs and are willing to make reservations far enough in advance, I would recommend this park. If you're looking for an impromptu hike and care about the service, I would recommend going to City of Rocks instead.