From hunters pursuing big game during the last ice age to modern park visitors coming to hike, generations have witnessed the beauty of Seminole Canyon — some literally leaving their mark on the rock walls. Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site is well known for its pictographs, painted roughly 4,000 years ago by the Desert Archaic people, who made use of the canyon not only as a shelter, but also a blank canvas.
The park’s Canyon Rim Trail winds along the west edge of the canyon down to the Rio Grande corridor, with multiple overlook points. If you do not have enough time for the full 5-mile, one-way hike, park Superintendent Stephanie Croatt recommends trekking to the Presa Canyon Overlook and back.
“When you’re standing at the overlook, you’re looking at these beautiful, amazing, sheer-sided canyons with really interesting rock formations,” Croatt says.
The route is full of glimpses into the past. Shortly after the trailhead, hikers cross paths with an old rail bed where the nation’s second transcontinental railroad, the Southern Pacific, ran in the late 1800s. A half-mile later, the rocky ground turns into a wooden footbridge, passing by two rock rings that served as the foundations for “wikiup” structures inhabited by Native Americans more than 1,000 years ago.
The semiarid climate at the park promotes a mixture of plant and animal species from the South Texas Plains, the Edwards Plateau and the Chihuahuan Desert. Visitors frequently spot Texas spiny lizards, armadillos, jackrabbits, javelina, white-tailed deer, roadrunners and scaled quail. There is very little shade along the trail — this unique rocky brushland contains desert-adapted vegetation such as blackbrush, mesquite, sotol and prickly pear.
“If you're not well acclimated to a sunny, dry environment, be aware, know your limits and pack plenty of water,” Croatt says.
Awaiting hikers in the last mile of the trail is Panther Cave Overlook. Panther Cave, a world-class rock art site at the edge of Seminole Canyon, contains a 9-foot-long mountain lion pictograph. Croatt recommends bringing binoculars to get a better look at the rock shelter’s gigantic pictograph panel across the canyon. To the right of the overlook, the canyon opens onto the Rio Grande and hikers can enjoy views of Mexico.
“I have never been down there and not been awed by just the size of the canyon and how rugged and tough it looks,” Croatt says.
The route ends at an intersection with the Rio Grande Trail. Take this path left to loop back (2 miles) to the Canyon Rim trailhead.
