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This U.S. Desert Trail Was Named One of the Best Hikes in the World—and It's Got Stunning Mountain Views and Pristine Night Skies
Just one mile into the 4.8-mile out-and-back trail, you'll reach a saddle that gives hikes stunning views of the Chisos Mountains, including Casa Grande Peak and Juniper Canyon.
And though there are 80 official trails in Big Bend National Park that explore all the unique topography of the park from mountains to flatlands, the Lost Mine Trail is arguably one of the park's most rewarding hikes. It winds through the shade of juniper trees and piñon pines high above the Chihuahuan Desert floor.
While you should always carry water with you and exercise a healthy amount of precaution during warm-weather hikes in Texas, including slathering up in sunscreen, the trail's high elevation (at about 1,100 feet of elevation) makes it a bit cooler than other options in the park. The effort—and sweat—is all worth it, though. You'll find a sense of solitude and quiet wonder in the quintessential Big Bend vistas the trail offers—and that's what many hikers say leaves the most lasting impression on them.
So, it comes as no surprise that this Texas desert hike was named one of AllTrails' '25 Trails to Explore in 2025.'
Though most people tend to take this hike on during the day, one AllTrails community member recommended experiencing it during the night of a full moon. 'The switchbacks were illuminated by the moon and the stars, which was incredible," they wrote.
Big Bend National Park sits within the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve, which is currently the world's Dark Sky Reserve at 9 million acres. Big Bend shares on its website that the park also 'has the least light pollution of any other national park unit in the lower 48 states.'
The Lost Mine Trail takes most hikers between two and three hours to complete. The route is rated as 'moderate' on AllTrails.
Lost Mine Trail was selected by AllTrails from more than 450,000 trails around the globe, which included routes in New Zealand, the Alps, and Costa Rica. Here are the top 15 trails:
Peace Trail, Segment 28: Contrin Refuge - Fedaia Pass (Trento, Italy) Cerro Pelón (Michoacán, Mexico) Boston's Freedom Trail (Massachusetts, United States) Alice-Toxaway and Edith Lake Loop (Idaho, United States) Hump Ridge Track (Southland, New Zealand) Slaughter Pen: All American, Seed Tick, Medusa, and Tatamagouche (Arkansas, United States) Nachi Falls - Kumano Nachi Taisha - Daimonzaka (Nachikatsuura, Japan) Smarts Mountain via Appalachian and Ranger Trail (New Hampshire, United States) Cirque du Fer-à-Cheval - Pas du Boret - Le Bout du Monde (Haute-Savoie, France) Firefly Trail (South Carolina, United States) Lost Mine Trail (Texas, United States) Hoh River Trail to Mineral Creek Falls (Washington, United States Coast to Coast Walk Segment 1: St Bees to Ennerdale Bridge (Cumbria, England) Medicine Root and Castle Trail Loop (South Dakota, United States) Katy Trail (Missouri, United States)
For the full list, visit alltrails.com.
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CNET
3 days ago
- CNET
Best Hiking Apps of 2025 for Enhancing Your Outdoor Adventures
I test hiking apps by, well, hiking. I use them to find, build and navigate trails and backcountry terrain. Dillon Lopez/CNET Although I'm not a professional mountain guide or extreme hiker, I've been hiking regularly for more than a decade and would consider myself advanced. I hike multiple times a week and have summited a handful of challenging peaks, including Mount Whitney, Half Dome and Costa Rica's Cerro Chirripó, as well as many other notable hikes around the Sierra Nevada mountains where I live. I enjoy hiking in national and state parks across the US and exploring trails while traveling internationally. AllTrails has been my primary source for locating and navigating hikes until recently. I've exhausted most of the known trails around our area and sought a new app to help me plan and execute more backcountry hikes. I've tested seven other hiking apps for the past month to compare and contrast features and functionality. The main qualities I considered when selecting the apps on this list include functionality and features, user interface, trail database, offline maps, navigation, pricing and reviews. User interface: I've familiarized myself with each app's interface, learning its features and functionalities. I note whether it's pretty intuitive and easy to pick up or if there's a significant learning curve. Once I have a trail picked or a custom route created, I've been hitting the trails and using the apps to navigate, paying attention to how accurately the GPS tracks my movements, how easy it is to follow the trail and how the maps display on my phone. While testing the popular (and free) Hiking Project app, I had issues with the interface and functionality, including glitches, app crashes and the inability to zoom in or out, which is part of the reason it didn't make the list. Aly Lopez/CNET On each hike, I use two apps to compare and contrast their functions. I note whether they have glitches or issues with rotating the screen and zooming in or out, as well as which maps are most accurate compared with the actual paths, landmarks and general topography in front of me. Offline navigation: One of the most critical components I looked at is access to maps and navigation offline. After all, it doesn't matter what app you use if it won't work when you lose cell service. Luckily, these offline features are becoming industry standard, and most outdoor hiking apps now offer them -- though they'll make you pay for it. I always download the trail and maps I need before heading out (I've been burned by not doing that in the past). Features: I examine the app's other features, including extra overlays, weather forecasts, satellite previews, safety tools and community features, such as whether there are user-generated reviews and photos. Finally, I look at the posthike interface and assess how accurately the app measured all my metrics during the hike. I asked the experts Anouk Erni of Blackbird Mountain Guides, a highly experienced, certified mountain guide with an impressive list of credentials longer than the alphabet, offered expert insight. "Many guides and recreationalists use either CalTopo or Gaia for planning routes and downloading maps with different topographical layers. These apps work very well for trip planning and allow you to incorporate layers such as snow coverage, global imagery, US Forest Service maps and topo and contour lines. If you're into creating routes on your map, these have many features, such as creating geospatial PDF topo maps that you can download onto your phone for offline use. I like to have these PDFs downloaded to my phone, as well as use the app to access the route and orient myself in the moment. The apps sync all your information quickly -- but make sure to download the maps for offline use before going out of service, so that you can use them to orient yourself throughout the hike. Other decent options for apps are AllTrails, Avenza and onX," explains Erni. It's an ongoing process Testing hiking apps is an ongoing process. Hiking application companies constantly evolve and upgrade their products, improving the technology and offering more features, trails and functionalities as their database grows. This roundup of the best hiking apps will evolve as we continue to test them, so check back at CNET for updates.
USA Today
27-07-2025
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From rock climbing to skiing, this hidden gem is perfect for outdoor-loving families
'Experience America' is a five-part series that showcases often-overlooked destinations and experiences in our backyard. FAYETTEVILLE, West Virginia ― If you had told me in January I'd be going to West Virginia twice this year, I don't think I would have believed you, but I'm so glad I can now say I have been. West Virginia is an outdoor adventurer's paradise, and although even locals don't always take advantage of the resources right on their doorstep, the state is truly a hidden gem of the great outdoors. 'West Virginia is just often an underrated destination as a whole, and maybe not the first thought for a really high adventure destination,' Lindsey Funk, a public relations assistant at the West Virginia Department of Tourism, told me during my first visit, in May. For that, she said, even West Virginians often go elsewhere. But the Mountain State is trying to remind residents and visitors alike that it's a great place for any pace of outdoor adventure. 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UNESCO Just Added New Destinations to Its World Heritage Sites—See the Full List
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