Marcus/Bush Mtn Trail
I really want to finish up all the hiking trails in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. I’ve never been up the Permian Geology trail to the Wilderness Ridge BC site. I’ve never been up/down the Marcus trail, nor the northwest corner of the Bush Mountain trail.
Map of GUMO north
I want to do the loop of Marcus trail/Blue Ridge/Bush mountain to finish up that corner of the park. It’s the least used bit of trail in the park I believe. I actually did do the Blue Ridge section back in the 1980s; even have a backcountry permit for Blue Ridge backcountry site but I didn’t use it. I just hiked out from I think Mescalero to Blue Ridge to Bush Mountain and back to Pine Top.
I will start in Dog Canyon, thence to Marcus, and the only question is whether to do the loop clockwise or counter-clockwise.
- 3.5 mi. –Dog Canyon CG to Marcus Trail jct
- 0.2 mi. –Marcus Jct to Marcus BC site
- 3.7 mi. –Marcus BC to Blue Ridge Jct
- 0.5 mi. –Blue Ridge Jct to Blue Ridge BC site
- 1.2 mi. –Blue Ridge BC to Marcus Jct
- 3.8 mi. –Marcus Jct to Marcus Jct
- 3.5 mi. –Marcus Jct to Dog Canyon CG
- 16.4 miles total loop
That’s an interesting corner of the park. I’ve camped at Marcus a few times, though the last time has been many years ago. I recommend taking a pair of gaiters as the trails in the area can be pretty overgrown. One time, a friend, his son, and I bushwhacked over to the summit of Cutoff Mountain. Wilderness Ridge is nice also; camp there at least a couple nights and day hike up across the state line into Lincoln NF on your layover day.
Thanks, that’s good info. I’ve actually camped in LNF; a few years ago when GUMO (Dog Canyon) was closed for several months.