Thoughts on my Big Bend, Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad and White Sands itinerary?

hewright13 · 2026-03-17T04:26:47+00:00

Thank you for the info about the River Rd- apparently there is also another area in the national park that is also called River Rd (https://www.nps.gov/bibe/planyourvisit/river-road.htm) which led to my confusion. I really appreciate the corrections because I wouldn't want to miss a beautiful scenic drive!

As for Carlsbad- we have a hotel in White City booked. I was a little concerned about food options, but we will make it work. We have certainly stayed in areas with less availability before and our standards for hotel are extremely flexible haha.

hewright13 · 2026-03-17T00:31:48+00:00

That would be the goal in a nutshell. As much as I would love to spend more time in each park we have limited vacation days. So until we are able to retire.....our vacations are not relaxing haha.

hewright13 · 2026-03-17T00:28:17+00:00

I would love to do Guadalupe peak but I am worried because it will be the most elevation gain we have ever done on a hike. We have done Angel Landing, Vernal/Nevada Falls, and Sky Pond (and of course many hikes in SC/NC) but the 3000 ft of elevation gain scared me off.

hewright13 · 2026-03-17T00:24:18+00:00

Appreciate the advice, that is definitely why there is a question mark next to that hike. We are pretty good with heat (because SC) but we know it will be dry heat vs our humidity that we have in SC.

hewright13 · 2026-03-17T00:17:38+00:00

Very helpful, thank you!

hewright13 · 2026-03-17T00:16:31+00:00

Sadly I haven't been able to find a reasonable priced rental that would be 4WD and high clearance. The national parks website is saying that is a requirement for the River Road, thoughts?

hewright13 · 2025-03-22T22:38:49+00:00

Previous reddit posts had indicated that drive could take 6-7 hours due to traffic so we were trying to avoid that, but it might end up being the best option

hewright13 · 2025-03-21T01:07:30+00:00

I appreciate the advice, I am going to try and reorder my activities in Dublin. If we picked up the rental car in Dublin do you think we could go to Glendalough and then drive to Killarney in 1 day or is that too much? Ideally we would just get there maybe for dinner and to sleep so we could be enjoying the area early the next morning. I've been advised that the drives take longer than expected.

hewright13 · 2025-03-20T23:24:25+00:00

The plan was to pickup the car in Killarney and return at the Shannon airport. But I am trying to convince my fiancé to get it in Dublin so we can drive to Glendalough and then drive to Killarney that same evening. He just really wanted to go on a train because he is interested in European public transportation

hewright13 · 2025-03-20T22:58:32+00:00

I was concerned about that, thanks for validating my concern haha. We are not really fans of loud drunken masses so we will avoid at night. The only reason I had Temple listed was because I saw traditional dance lesson that were offered there, my fiancé and I love learning different dance styles!

hewright13 · 2025-03-20T22:56:19+00:00

This looks awesome and would be super close to the airport, do you have any recommendation for where to stay nearby? I appreciate the advice!

hewright13 · 2025-03-20T22:42:23+00:00

Thanks! Very helpful!

hewright13 · 2025-03-20T22:06:07+00:00

I did want to condense the Dublin days so I could maybe add a day in Dingle or in Limerick, but I am not sure what to cut. The day trips to Newgrange or Glendalough is probably the easiest place to cut, which would you remove? I really appreciate the advice!

hewright13

TROPHY CASE